Super Smash Brothers: Return
by Joethebrave0
Summary: A retelling of the Subspace Emissary that was begun in September '07. Most events are different, though some ideas may make small appearances. Includes some characters from Melee but not all from Brawl. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Some pairings.
1. Prologue: Of Plots and Plans

Author's Note: This is my first time here on Fanfiction-dot-net! True as that may be, it's not my first time writing fanfiction. I want your constructive criticism, so please, give me all you've got!

You'll probably get it right off the bat, but it's worth noting that I'm implying that Tednonin is the planet that most Nintendo games take place on! For instance, The Mushroom Kingdom, Hyrule, DK Island, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Eagleland, and most other things. This is, of course, barring Metroid, Star Fox, and the obvious 'otherworldly adventures'. However, F-Zero takes place on Earth, far in the future. In addition, (in my opinion and fanfic at least), all the Fire Emblems, save the sequels, such as The Sealed Sword, take place alongside each other, just on different continents.

I don't own any of this! Don't be thinking that I do!

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Prologue: Of Plots and Plans

It had been long in the making, but it was finally constructed. After two previous contacts with the other parts the world and beyond, a new location had to be created for the Super Smash Brothers headquarters. Through the efforts and resources of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Paper Sector, and Flipside, the SSB-BII was created! It is a space station, large enough to hold at least two hundred personnel and over 50 smashers inside its metallic walls.

The historic Smash Mansion would still exist, but mainly as an information center, providing news and other important documents from the surface of the planet to the SSB-BII.

A figure sat in a red couch next to the grand fireplace in the Mansion, as another sat in a green couch opposite. The first figure smiled, the firelight casting a sinister shadow across his face.

"It's-a finally ready, bro, thanks for helping, yous-a did a good job," Mario congratulated his brother, Luigi.

"Ohh, it was nuttin', big bro!" Luigi said humbly, "Anyway, the Princess helped out a lot, too…"

"Yeah," Mario continued, "But you're-a my bro! You deserve somethin' special for-a your help!" The plumber walked to the kitchen to find a slice of the cake that was left over from Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom's birthday party.

"Whoa-hoah!" Luigi cried as his brother came in with the large section of moist lemon cake. "Mario! T-that… that isn't the last…"

"Yup, it-a sure is! And you get to have the honors of eating it, Luigi!"

Luigi smiled tearfully, and gently collected the plate, and pulled off a small section for his brother. "Here, Mario, you should have this part," Luigi offered.

"No, I need my gloves clean for when I launch this thing!"

"Mmph?" The younger Mario Bro asked, his mouth full of cake.

"Oh, you know, the SSB-BII gets launched tonight, remember?"

"Mm…" Luigi nodded in understanding.

"In fact, I'd-a say it launches in about… ah… now!" Mario quietly flicked open a small panel on the arm of his couch, to look upon a series of buttons. With as much vigor as he could muster, he slammed his fist into a large red button in the center of the panel.

"Mwha!?" Luigi sputtered, bits of the precious cake spewing out of his mouth, flecks of it splattering across his brother's face.

Mario wiped the small chunks of dessert off of his face, turned, and said to Luigi, "Yep, the SSB-BII has just been launched from your house," Luigi thought of the mansion that he managed to buy using the money he found in the Boo's Illusion Mansion. "It's now in orbit around our planet of Tednonin," Mario proclaimed.

"B-but… you could've told me that earlier!" Luigi squealed, "Why don't you ever tell me these things!?"

"Luigi," Mario looked confused, "I told you earlier today."

"When I was busy making you spaghetti!" The bro in green squeaked.

"What's done is done, bro," Mario shrugged. "It's-a been launched into space, so that's that."

* * *

In the deep reaches of space, a dark presence brooded… Watching silently, this being saw the SSB-BII, lovingly dubbed the Smash Station, enter orbit around planet Tednonin. The entity rubbed its gloved hands together, despite its lack of arms.

"So it has begun," The Ancient Minister said to his hands in his thin, distorted voice. He was speaking through a mask that covered his entire face save for a slot through which two yellow spheres burned. An almost triangular figure, the Minister rested upon a floating platform, his green robes billowing out behind him. "You, Right, you're the master of this operation. Keep an eye on them, if any rules are broken… i_Destroy them._"/i

"It shall be done, Minister," The Master Hand replied in a very proper British accent, and floated off towards the Smash Station.

"You, Left, you're staying with me, you're not going crazy on my watch," the Minister chastised his remaing hand.

"BHWAHAW! So, you think you can leave me to die?! I only destroyed a few of our battlecruisers!" The Crazy Hand laughed insanely.

"Hmm… Left, I'll keep you here for when I need you. You're Right's backup," the Minster cooed to his left hand.

"Neahiiiii!" The Ancient Minister's left hand screamed.

The Minister touched Crazy to the side of his head, where an ear should've been. "Anglar!"

A dastardly voice bubbled from the earpiece, "Yeesss… My Lord Minister?"

"Ready the Subspace Army, I may have need of them shortly. There is conflict brewing in the universe, I aspire to make good use of it. Should anyone break any of my rules, send the eighteenth division, and have Zazan head it," the Subspace Leader chuckled.

"It… shall be done… Ready the Zazanga, oh, and my thanks for saving my ship and I from that hole in Venom. Anglar out," The Anglar Emperor cut the transmission.

"Are you sure this will work, Subspace being?" A voice asked from behind the Minister.

"You're scheme will go as planned, space beast. Have no fear, your conquest will take place," The Ancient Minister said quietly.

"For your sake, I hope you're right," the space beast threatened, and flew off, leathery wings beating in a perfect rhythm.

"Heh… what a fool, leaving his troops in the hands of fate… That being should take more pride in his soldiers. But then, they're not much to be proud of, eheh…" The Subspace Ruler thought.

"IIIIIDIIIOOOOT! AHAHAHA!" Crazy Hand howled.

"I'd smack you if I had another hand here…"

* * *

Two meteorites rent the night above the otherwise gentle kingdom of Hyrule. The princess of the realm, Zelda, was watching from her tower, as a great bang, as if from thunder, had split the silence. In her shock, she stepped backwards, her pristine, white dress fluttering somewhat from the motion, though her purple top remained stoic upon her bosom.

"That's… odd… there's not supposed to be a meteor shower for well over eight months now," The Hylian Princess thought. "There… By Nayru!"

One of the meteors impacted into Death Mountain, and a deafening explosion rung out, as if from a bell. Even from this distance, Zelda could hear the cacophony. Lights flicked on in Kakariko Village, and though she could not hear it, Zelda knew that the townsfolk were screaming in terror and likely running around like headless cucoos.

"The Gorons are up there," she thought worriedly, "What will become of them?"

Then, suddenly, a soldier, steel blade in his right hand, burst into Princess Zelda's tower chamber!

"Your Highness!" he gasped. "King Irunus wishes to see you, he says it's urgent!

She glanced out the window at the cloud of smoke billowing from Death Mountain. "Father wants to see me? Is it about that comet?" She asked nervously.

"You mean that one?" the sentry asked, pointing at the cloud. "No, it's about the smaller one."

"Smaller one!?" Zelda was truly puzzled now.

"Yes! Come, follow me!"

Zelda tugged on the top of her dress, giving her room to move quicker, and followed the guard down the spiral staircase.

"Sir, what is your name?" Zelda asked abruptly.

The guard, taken aback, choked and almost went toppling down the stairs. He managed to recover, though, and settled for only slipping down three steps. "Oh, you must pardon me, princess, I wasn't expecting that. My name is Robin, I'm in the Royal Guard."

"Thank you, Sir Robin," Zelda smiled.

The guardsman blushed, "It's just Robin, princess," he said as he hurried through the corridors of Hyrule Castle. "Anyway, we're almost there, please keep up the pace!"

"I'll try, Robin," Zelda said as she ran to keep up with him.

As they hurried up the floors of Hyrule Castle, retainers and other guards stared as Zelda ran by.

"Hey Rob, you-!" One senior guard cried.

"Sorry! No time!" Robin replied.

"Here we are, princess," her escort said, "Here's the throne room, but you knew that already, didn't you!" Zelda laughed with the soldier.

He sighed, "Alright, I'm off!" and the guard zipped back down.

"Goddesses, he's fast…" Zelda laughed as she walked through the doors to the throne room.

"Ah, Zelda, you're here!" King Irunus Stefan Hyrule greeted, "I'm glad you're here, for I have grave news." The king looked gravely at his daughter, worry creasing his brow. He wore the standard garb for the kings of Hyrule: a billowing red cloak topped with a massive white collar. It was like a frilled lizard; all his clothing was layered and massive to make him look larger and more imposing than he really was.

"What is it, father? Does it have something to do with that meteor?" Zelda asked.

"Yes… and no," Irunus answered cryptically. "You see, another, smaller, meteor impacted not far from us. To be precise, in the Faron Woods, near Ordona Province."

"Ordon… Link!" the princess gasped.

"Yes, no doubt our hero has gone to investigate this disturbance. I want you to take Sarcus and join with Link in the woods." The king was referring to his daughter's horse, a fine, white steed by the name of Sarcus.

Zelda looked out the window in the direction of Faron Province. "Very well, I should be there by daybreak."

"That's my girl," Irunus smiled.

* * *

A hiss of steam, a glimpse of the crimson glow of magma, and a reptilian creature crawled out of the crater in Death Mountain. His head was grotesque by human standards, and where hands should be, vile pincers opened and closed in anticipation. Several weapons were slung over his back: a scythe and countless firearms.

_"Sssahhh!"_ Static crackled through his voice, _"Kkkxxxx, come out you scum, let's get moving! The General, geoform 187, won't be pleased if we're slow!"_


	2. Crash Landing

Brave: Well, here it is. The 'official' first chapter of _Return_. At the moment I'm just updating all the stuff I have backed up. At the moment I currently have 24 chapters written, it just takes a little time to upload them since I'm not so familiar with this site's layout. (Plus it takes a while to get the BB Tags out of this stuff.)

I don't own any of this. Fire Emblem, Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc., etc., belongs to Nintendo. Enjoy!

Rather large spoilers for the end of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. If you haven't played that game... WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? It's awesome, and its sequel for the Wii, Radiant Dawn, is even better. So for the love of Pete, play those two games!

* * *

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter I: Crash Landing

"What the-?" Link bolted upright in his bed in Ordon Village, quickly looked out his third story window and noticed the column of smoke trailing from the depths of the Faron Woods. He blinked, thinking that he might still be dreaming, but quickly and dismally discovered that he was very much awake. Knowing his duty to Hyrule, he grudgingly knew that he was obligated to investigate the disruption.

"Do I have to be the hero?" Link sighed sarcastically. "Ugh… ah well, it might be interesting." He checked his clock, which read 3:28 AM, a perfectly miserable hour for anyone to be awake. The Hero shook his head and slipped down the ladder to the second landing, and then repeated the process to the ground floor. He then proceeded to slip on the green tunic he had come to love, and buckled the Ordon Sword and Hero's Bow, along with a quiver of arrows to his back.

"Umph…" He rubbed sleep out of his eyes, and stretched, "I… guess I'm ready," he mumbled groggily, still half-asleep. Opening up the door, Link then proceeded to hop off the ledge, instead of climbing down the ladder to the ground.

"Hey! Epona!" Link called, and looked around for his steed. After a moment of no response, he sighed and began to rummage inside the pouches of his belt. Finding what he was searching for, he played a quick three note tune on the metallic whistle that his childhood friend, Ilia, had given him. It was made in the shape of a breed of grass that bloomed around the Hyrule; a horseshoe-shaped reed. A few brief moments after Link played the song, his chestnut horse, Epona, came trotting up from the Ordon Ranch to meet him.

"Hi girl…" Link smiled as he stroked the fuzz on Epona's tawny back. She whinnied, and her master hopped onto the brown back of the horse. "Off to Faron, girl, let's go!" He lightly kicked her sides, and she set off at a quick trot towards the serene forest.

The breeze kicked by Link, threatening to whisk his hat away, but the comfortable floppy hat stayed firmly put, much to the Hero's pleasure. The gate to Ordona Spring was just a blur as they zipped by, though a surprised Ilia turned her head from inside the gate. She often came here before dawn to pray to the spirit that resided in the spring, Ordona the Bull.

"Link…?" She asked to the speeding rider.

The man in question didn't hear her, though it was his name that was asked. Epona slowed down but a fraction as they came into view of the bridge that spanned the length of the canyon that seperates Ordon Village from the Faron Woods, and they crossed it without issue. After the bridge, they reached Faron Spring, and the clearing nearby, in which Epona stopped to rest. Link dismounted and stroked the hair on her head.

"Thanks Epona," Link cooed as he withdrew a carrot from the horse's saddlebag. He fed it to her as they walked towards the spring, glowing in the dimness of early morning. He then turned his focus to the column of smoke rising about a half-mile from his position. The hero extracted a map of Faron Province from a pouch in his belt and examined it carefully. He put his finger on his current location, the spring, and looked up at the black column near him.

"So… if I'm here," Link mused, finger on the spring, he glanced once more at the smoke, "Then that smog should be coming from…" He moved his finger to the north, "The fog plain!" He exclaimed, remembering the section of the forest that a deadly purple mist had covered during his previous quest.

"You wait here, Epona!" He called as his figure disappeared in the tunnel to the east, "I'll be back!"

As he hurtled through the forest tunnel he silently thanked Farore for the lack of Deku Babas in the dark. The absence of the carnivorous plants was a stroke of fortune; while the Babas weren't much of a threat to him, they were an annoyance that would have slowed down his investigation.

"Up next is a cave..." Link commented as he ran through the passageway before coming to a brief patch of sunlight before passing through a gate and into another cave. As he approached the mouth of the next passage, he rummaged once more through the pouches strapped across his chest and waist. "Lantern, lantern, lantern… ah! There it is!" Link removed his lamp from a compartment in his belt, and lit it with some embers from the torch that burned low in the entrance.

"Here come the Keese," he said to himself, having memorized this area. Sure enough, a swarm of bat-like Keese swooped down at him from above. Link quickly dispatched them with a few strokes of his sword, and exited the cave, finding himself in the plain that often held a large bank of poisonous fog. Strangely enough, however, the fog wasn't to be seen that day, as a large fire burned bright in the center of the field, driving away the toxic mist.

"That's far too easy," Eying the empty field with suspicion, Link slowly made his way to the flaming crater in the middle of the field.

"I would guess a meteor, but…" He looked at the impact crater, "I doubt meteors are usually orange, or have such a lot of metal in them…"

A small amount of electricity discharged itself and crackled along the surface of the stellar object. A fragment of green glass fell from the wreckage onto Link's arm, slicing through fabric and skin alike, leaving a small gash along his forearm.

"Yow!" Link gripped the wound tightly, "What is that thing…?" His question didn't go unanswered for long, as a hiss and a cloud of steam was expelled from the orange object, and a silhouette emerged from the top. What the Hylian assumed to be its head turned a few times, examining its surroundings.

"So, _you're_ here," The clouded figure remarked. "So it would be safe to assume that this dump is Hyrule?"

Insulted by the stranger's blunt remark Link retorted, "Yeah, who ever you are! And that trash heap just landed straight into it! So if you're just going to insult our kingdom, then you just bug off!"

"How rude. Of both of us, I mean," The figure front flipped in front of Link, emerging from the steam. Orange colored armor shone dully in front of Link, making him blink.

"The name's Samus Aran, you might know me?" the armored figure introduced herself.

"Oh! Excuse me, I'm Link!"

"Yes, I guessed as much; I believe we've met before."

"Really, when? You do look familiar, though, I'll give you that!"

"Smash Bros.," she said concisely, jogging his memory. "Does that ring any bells?"

"Oh yeah…" Link pondered, "That's where I remember you from!

"I'm overjoyed," Samus said sarcastically. Link gave her a dirty look, which passed unnoticed. "Listen, as touching as this is, I've got a job to do, so if you'll excuse me…" Samus began walking in the direction of Hyrule Field; back the way Link had come.

"Hey, wait!" Link called, running up to her.

"Look, kid, I've got no time for your sentiments. There's some scary critters on the loose," she hissed in a falsely intimidating voice as she waggled the fingers on her left hand, "...and I'd prefer you not get involved," the bounty hunter didn't look back at him.

"But-!"

At that moment, however, the princess of Hyrule, Zelda, rode towards them on her creamy-white horse, Sarcus, and stopped abruptly when she spotted the two.

"Whoa, Sarcus…" Zelda said softly to her horse. "Link! I see that you're all ri-! Wait, is… is that-?"

"Samus. The name's Samus," The hunter finished. "If memory serves, then you're Zelda."

"Yes…" Zelda thought, "I remember you from… that one time, you were at the Smash Mansion!"

"So, I suppose not everyone in this place is a total idiot…" Samus chuckled sarcastically.

Link stamped his foot upon the soil, "All right, I've had about enough of your insults, you orange idiot! You're going to pay for that one!" The infuriated Hylian shouted as he unsheathed his blade. Glaring at the space hunter, he pointed the tip of the Ordon Sword at Samus' breastplate.

"Link, no!" Zelda screamed.

Samus just smiled inside her helmet, and pointed the green cannon on her right arm at Link's chest.

"Yaaaaaah!" The green-clothed Hylian charged towards the armored human, sword raised. The hunter held her aim and cracked her neck inside the red helmet. Samus then clicked her tongue and pointed her right index finger at Link. Four small hatches opened on her arm cannon, allowing a missile to fire at her headstrong foe.

"Grah!" The force of the explosion sent Link hurtling back into a nearby thorn bush. Samus chuckled and opened a panel on the weapon.

"Feh, too sluggish," she muttered, fiddling with the controls, "The atmosphere here is at 117, adjust life support and fire rate accordingly," Samus closed the control panel.

Zelda gave Link an _I-told-you-so-why-don't-you-listen-to-me-more-often?_ sort of look, to which Link sighed, stepping out of the bush and sheathing his blade. He then took a strip of cloth from a bag on his belt and wrapped it around the missile's point of impact, after drinking a dose of a crimson potion that hung at his belt.

The princess offered a hand to Samus, who shook it briefly, before setting off once more towards Hyrule Field. Link was the first to give chase after her, and Zelda followed after mounting Sarcus.

"Wait!" Link cried, pursuing her, "I still don't know where you're going, let alone what you're doing!"

She turned her head to look at him for a fraction of a second before continuing on her way.

"Hey!" Link shouted, quite annoyed at her by this point.

"You're not prepared for what I'm going up against, kid," Samus said quite bluntly, not looking towards him this time. Now absolutely infuriated, Link started todraw his sword when Zelda trotted up on Sarcus and shot him another scathing look. The swordsman's blade slipped back into its scabbard as its owner stalked silently along with the two females.

"Samus," Zelda asked, "I must inquire, what is your quest in our land of Hyrule?"

"So polite," Samus smiled jokingly, while Link scowled, "Well, since you asked so nicely, I'm investigating a wreck that appeared here quite recently; did you notice it?"

"The meteor!" Link burst in, to which Samus frowned.

"Yes… I suppose you would've seen it as a meteor," Samus said scathingly. "However, it was-"

Samus' thought was interrupted by a far off explosion that, despite its distance, still caused the humanoids in Faron to feel a tremor.

"Never mind…"

* * *

"Haa!!"

_Clang!_

Two swords smashed against each other as two swordfighters crossed blades with each other. The first combatant spun in a circle and parried a blow from his foe before hitting his opponent with his sword hilt.

"Eek!" She cried, rubbing her head, before falling upon the ground.

"So, give up already?" Stefan asked the enemy swordmaster, who slowly stood.

"Humph, fine," Mia answered reluctantly, releasing her sword, its blade clattering upon the dusty stones. The swordmaster offered her hand in front of her, which Stefan grabbed hold of, and shook respectfully. They bowed to each other, and began walking in opposite directions.

Before he was out of earshot, Stefan stopped and said, "Mia, your skills are great enough to rival mine. I admit that the only reason I won was due to my weapon, forged from the remains of my original sword, the Vague Katti. If I hadn't been wielding the Luna Katti, you most likely would've bested me, and to that I commend you, an astounding performance," he concluded, entering his small hut deep within the desert sands.

The purple-haired swordmaster smiled, she had finally found a rival who would meet her needs. Rhys just hadn't been the type to swordfight, but Stefan seemed to be able to meet her in talent, giving her a good challenge. She walked to a small bluff, overlooking the desert ruins that were home to the laguz Muarim and his beorc protégé, Tormod. Sitting upon the sandy cliff, Mia gazed out upon the wastes, her eyes stopping briefly on the more noticeable parts of the stark landscape, the ruins, and Stefan's small hovel.

The muffled sound of footfalls came from behind her, and Mia turned about, noticing the brown, iron plated boots and white pants.

Ike chuckled, "So, you ever going to come back to Crimea, Mia?"

"Mm… I probably should," Mia mused, "Begnion is quite pleasant, and Apostle Sanaki can sometimes take time out of her schedule to chat, but… I was born and raised in Sassari Village, a small place out in Crimea. Yes, I'll go back with you, Ike!"

"Excellent," Ike responded, "I'll have Jorge get things ready, and have the brothers pack their things."

"The brothers came with you?" Mia asked incredulously.

"Yeah, of course!" Ike exclaimed, somewhat confused, "Boyd's great with an axe, Oscar's astounding on his steed, and Rolf's a fair shot with a bow! They're great to have along, especially with that, erm... "

"Triangle attack?" the swordswoman offered.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Ike nodded slowly, his messy, cerulean hair bobbing as he did so. "A triangle attack."

"Well, if you say so," Mia giggled. Ike smiled and raised an eyebrow before setting off towards the temporary camp that the small force of the Greil Mercenaries had pitched. Mia took a sip of water from her flask, and proceeded to follow Ike back to their encampment.

It had been nearly two years since the fall of the late Ashnard, ex-King of Daein, and the reconstruction of Crimea. With the aid of the laguz of Gallia and beorc of Crimea and Begnion, the nation's capitol of Meilor and the bulk of the surrounding areas were completely repaired. However, evil still haunted the darkest corners of Tellius, threatening to topple the still unstable kingdom ruled by Queen Elincia of Crimea.

Ike's chief fear was the enigmatic Black Knight, a figure who seemed to have met his end in a collapsing castle back in Daein-ruled Crimea. Though he had been weakened by an epic duel with Ike and then finally hit by the full force of the castle's walls, the mercenary leader still wasn't positive that the knight was dead. To anyone but the son of Gawain of Daein, or Greil the mercenary, the Black Knight would have been thought very dead. Ike, however, thought 

otherwise, he was positive that the ebon armor of the Black Knight still rattled through some dismal corner of Tellius.

And the laguz, King Tibarn and King Caineghis of Pheoncis and Gallia had made full and official peace with Goldoa. The hawks of Pheoncis, the felines of Gallia, and the dragons of Goldoa were now officially at peace. King Naesala of Kilvas however, was a different tale. After King Kilvas returned to his throne, with Nealuchi by his side, there was some enmity between the commoners of all laguz nations with the ravens of Kilvas.

Proud to a fault, Naesala refused to repent for his contract with Daein, explaining that 'It was just a job'. Despite his answer, the citizenry were still displeased, and thus boycotted any and all goods from Kilvas, by water or by air. The only contact between Kilvas and the other laguz nations were through the monarchy. Even with the contact with the laguz kings, Prince Reyson of Serenes was the only true friend of Naesala.

Thankfully, in recent months, things have slowly but surely began to even out between Raven King Naesala and Hawk King Tibarn. Trade is beginning to be reestablished between the two island nations.

And what of Ike and the Greil Mercenaries? They once more took up residence in the countryside of Crimea, refurnishing their old base. After several lucrative jobs from Elincia herself, the mercenaries had enough gold to buy new armor for their paladins, knights, generals, halberdiers, and all others who needed metallic armor, as well new weapons all around.

Their business in the Daein-Crimea war, as well as the incredible fighting talents of Ike and his men have brought great fame to the mercenaries. However, little do they know that their fame has caught the attention of another group of people…

* * *

Two reptilian creatures crawled through a narrow fissure in a magmatic tunnel, armed with strange weapons. They both seemed to be in some sort of army, considering their uniform.

"_So…"_ One of them hissed, _"you're the one in contact with High Command, how is the reconstruction effort progressing?_"

The other turned its head to speak to its comrade, _"D'you think that 'igh C'mmand would reeeaaallly tell me 'bout the reconst'uction? Ah may outrank 'ou, but the general wouldn't never lemme 'ear 'bout wha' 'igh C'mmand's innah w'rkin's," _he finished, a large burn had fused the left half of his mouth together, preventing his speech to come out as clean as it could.

The other sighed, _"Graxxx… this operation should go smoothly enough, even if we don't know how things are going back on Zebes…"_

"_L'st'n, private," _the other Zebesian Space Pirate hissed, _"'ou should feel honored that 'our takin' part in th' const'uction of _New Tourian_!"_


	3. A Bit off Course

Brave: Ah, Link and Samus are really going at it, aren't they? I still don't own any of these copyrights!

* * *

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter II: A Bit off Course

"Anything else?" Zelda asked as the trio exited the lush greenery of Faron Woods and into the dark openness of Hyrule Field. The southern end of the field was littered with patches of water from the evening rain, though larger bodies existed year-round.

"No, that's all. I'd bet they've already taken the mountain," Samus replied. "Space Pirates crash landed in that volcano. That's all the data I have right now."

"Damn…" Link grumbled, "If they've already gotten a foothold here in Hyrule, then who knows…"

Samus walked beside Link and Zelda, who were mounted upon their horses, Epona and Sarcus. As she walked, the bounty hunter had a panel on her arm cannon open, and was entering complex strings of numbers into a ten-digit pad inside.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Link asked, scrutinizing Samus' work.

"I'm entering certain formulae into my Varia Suit's internal computer to try locate any high levels of radiation left behind by Space Pirate Quantum Assault Cannons… But… you have no idea of what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Not a clue," Link responded blankly.

"Yes, I often forget how horribly primitive this side of Tendonin is, but that's not really my problem, is it?"

"You take that back!" Link screamed, causing Epona to bolt, which left the hero hanging on for dear life by her tail.

Zelda just watched blankly, as Samus just stood there, most likely doing the same thing. She then returned to feeding equations into her arm cannon, while Zelda just kept staring at Link's pathetic figure being dragged painfully through the mud, dirt and turf of the field.

Turning to Samus, the princess stated, "You know, I think I've seen something like this before, you think you know?"

Not looking up from her screen, Samus replied, "Kanto, involved a Ponyta and some idiot trainer named Ash."

"Ah yes, Pokemon."

After a few more minutes of ridiculous horse-riding, Link's fingers slipped from the hair of Epona's tail, leaving him to fall onto the ground. Unfortunately for him, the Hylian hero happened to fall directly into one of the pools of water that frequently appeared in southern Hyrule Field.

"Urk…" Link grunted as he landed with a splash. "Yes, thank you for helping me Zelda, oh I'm sooooo glad you picked me up Samus," he snarled sarcastically in the girls direction. After no one came to help him, he sighed and walked up, soaking wet, to his companions.

Samus was still fiddling with her arm cannon, and Zelda was trying to look innocent and to suppress a laugh, but was failing miserably. The green-clad Hylian glared at both of them, Zelda feeling guilty, and Samus not caring, or even noticing the look.

"You know, it seems to be getting more and more as if neither of you care about what happens to me!" Link shouted.

"Yup," Samus grunted, still not looking up. That gained her another nasty look.

Zelda gave a miserable glance at Link, saying, "Sorry, that…" she snickered, "t-that was just so funny!"

"Maybe for you…" Link grumbled. Samus nodded and slammed the panel on her cannon shut, which generated some attention.

"Found it," she smiled.

"Found what?" Zelda asked, turning towards the technologically advanced bounty hunter.

"The pirate base; it appears they've been digging through that Death Mountain of yours. Their new headquarters is under construction, and I could tell you more if they hadn't set up a jamming device," Getting uncomprehending looks from both of them, Samus sighed and elaborated. "Basically, they've made a base in the volcano, and they're preventing me from accessing their computers."

Zelda furrowed her brow, and looked towards Link, "Do you have any ideas on what they might be doing? This is awfully suspicious, I can't think of what they might want here in Hyrule, let alone why they'd bring the resources to set up a whole to base of operations!"

"Well, if you think about it," Link began to explain, forgetting his rage at his two companions, "Hyrule is a beautiful, peaceful country, and the least likely to generate suspicion if an attack was launched against anyone else! Not only that, but Death Mountain is extremely mineral-rich, they would barely have to bring any resources at all to make anything there! It's already filled with iron, a heat source, and lots of stone!"

"Heh, you're smarter than you look," Samus chuckled. "Keep this sort of thing up, and I may have to rethink my opinion of you." Link looked at her with a mixed expression of annoyance and gratitude, which was surprising, considering how nasty the space hunter had been to him.

"Anyway," Samus continued, "We'll have to make haste to reach the mountain, or we could be in serious trouble. Knowing the Space Pirates, they'll be looking for something to give them dominance over the galaxy, would you know of such a thing?"

Link gave a look to Zelda, one that conveyed both fear and knowing in a split-second, one that Hyrule's princess understood at once.

"Yes, Samus," Zelda groaned, "we know of such an object. Have you ever heard of the… Triforce?"

* * *

"They're neck in neck! Every second brings the other to first place! Who will win it?" The announcer called from his floating booth, the crowd roaring in the background. The man's sunglasses obscure his eyes completely, but his wide mouth coupled with the fact that he is literally on the edge of his seat shows that he is just as into the race as the spectators are. "And it looks like we've reached the final stretch of this race! The Blue Falcon has a very narrow lead, with… oh!"

The F-Zero machine, the Blue Falcon, had just knocked its competition, an almost oval-shaped, pink racer off of the narrow strip of track, and into the churning waters of the Big Blue.

"It looks like Captain Falcon has this race all wrapped up folks! With Samurai Goroh out of the running, there's no one who can oppose him as the finish line is mere seconds away! And… we have a winner!"

The crowd cheered wildly for the rider of the winning racer, Captain Falcon. The supporters of Samurai Goroh and a few of the other racers quietly slunk off in the commotion, to wallow in their shame.

"Yes! This game's winner is… CAPTAIN DOUGLAS JAY FALCON!" The race announcer screamed with the crowd. "And with it, progression to the next course on the F-Zero Grand Prix! Excellent work Captain, you'll be going to the Sand Ocean, along with a generous 10,000 prize!" The announcer then looked towards the camera and said, "Remember, the Big Blue course was sponsored by Barcurion Homebuilders, 'We'll have it built in a heartbeat, literally!' And a big thank you to all of our faithful watchers, we'll see you in two weeks at the Sand Ocean! This is Robert Stern, signing off!"

A gloved hand hit the power button on a remote control, shutting off his television screen. The being that the glove belonged to stepped through a dark hallway, and opened a door to the bridge. A bird-like creature turned to face him, and then returned to his controls.

"Captain?" The gloved figure asked.

"Yes, commander?" He replied.

"What is our current heading?"

"North by… northwest. We are in smooth skies, and headed towards Hylian airspace, in a few hours we could reach Altea, and about an hour more would place us in Lycia," he answered.

"Excellent, leave Hyrule be, make your way to… The Big Blue, and from then, if we somehow fail, onto the Sand Ocean."

"Sir? That's in a completely different System!!"

"Do as I say."

"Very well, commander Meta Knight," The Halberd's captain saluted, and changed course ever so slightly.

The stocky villain spread his bat-like wings and flew down the hallway, dodging maintenance crews as he did so, before arriving at his quarters. The door opened when he stepped in front of it, sliding sideways into the wall. A miniature throne of sorts was in the embellished room, and the knight jumped into it, relaxing. After taking a sip of a drink to his right, he pressed a button on the side of the throne, and a large screen descended in front of the closed door.

"Yes…?" A cold voice asked from the speakers.

"Sir," Meta Knight smiled maliciously, "I think I have found something that may interest you. Please, watch this clip," The fallen knight clicked a button on his remote, and an image filled the screen on both ends.

Two racers flew by, one blue, and one pink. They were so close that Captain Falcon could see Goroh's face through the glass. Samurai Goroh smiled, and pulled a hand pistol from its holster, and shot at Falcon, who ducked just in time. Retaliating, Falcon slammed into Goroh's fuselage, and knocked him off into the ocean beneath. Meta Knight pressed the button, stopping the clip.

"That pink one… he broke their own rules," The voice from the screen sneered.

"Indeed, my lord," Meta Knight bowed as best he could, he wasn't quite built for bowing.

"If they cannot abide by their own laws, then I can't expect them to abide by mine. They will be seeded, and they shall die. They shall be destroyed for their inability to obey," The voice concluded.

"But, Minister, Hyrule is planned for seeding next, you'll have to wait!"

The strange face of the Ancient Minister came into view, "Hyrule is the beginning, with it as a foothold, no one can stop us. You have a point, though. If we divide our strength, then the Subspace Army shall fall, we need to concentrate our forces in one area, that shall make us successful. Meta Knight?"

"Yes, my lord minister?"

"I require a force of troops on Hyrule to secure my victory," The Ancient Minister requested. "Deploy them from the Halberd."

"Sir, her long-range sensors have already picked up readings of Space Pirate activity in the kingdom of Hyrule. I believe that sending further troops would be unnecessary," The knight countered.

The Minister swore foully, unbefitting for a creature of his composure. "So… our friend has jumped the gun, has he? I believe that considering the incredible rate of failure for the pirates, a few Primids should secure the area."

"But… my lord, Ancient Minister! Should I reveal the Halberd, I can't be certain that we will still have the element of surprise on our side!" Meta Knight exclaimed.

"You will do as I say, launch the Primids in the ocean if you have to. I want this ship concealed as well as possible, they must not know of your allegiance. Do whatever is necessary," The Ancient Minister concluded.

"Very well, my lord," Meta Knight said, and cut the transmission, before opening a new channel, speaking into a microphone, he said, "Captain?"

"Ah! We get signal!" The captain said to one of his assistants.

"What?" the Waddle Dee in charge of communications asked, looking up at the eagle-headed captain.

"Never mind," the captain chuckled.

"Captain, are you going to waste my time making semi-obscure references to a badly dubbed video game, or are you going to listen to me?" Meta Knight yelled, losing his composure.

"I… apologize, commander," the captain mumbled, looking down.

"I'm glad, things would turn out quite badly if you hadn't. Onto the point. I wish for you to change course once more, take us on a course to enter the Sea of Hyrule. We're sending down a platoon of Primids," Meta Knight ordered.

"Pardon me?" asked the Captain, "Once again, that takes us in the complete opposite direction!"

"You'll follow orders carefully, my Captain, or you'll learn just how a weathervane feels. They hang quite nicely on the outside of _my_ ship, getting battered by wind, sleet, and hail."

The Halberd's captain shuddered, and saluted. Meta Knight concluded the transmission.

* * *

The great silhouette of Death Mountain loomed forebodingly above the figures of Link, Samus, and Princess Zelda. A cloud of smoke billowed out of the crater at the top of the mountain, and a long, angular formation protruded, like a sword out of a victim, from the center of the volcano.

"Death Mountain?" Samus asked Zelda.

"No doubt," she answered.

"How aptly named."

Link was deep in thought, and looking towards the bounty hunter, when a thought sprang into his mind.

"By Farore, Samus!" He cried. Samus turned towards him, not really caring or wanting to know what he was talking about.

"What is it this time?" she groaned.

"Your suit! You've got to remove it!" Link exclaimed.

"W-what!?" Samus was stunned, in her opinion; it wasn't exactly a polite exclamation coming from anyone, but especially a _boy_.

"Think about it, we Hylians aren't really used to people like you, with your fancy power suit. You'll have to look at least _kinda_ normal. If you take off your suit, then you'll blend in at least _a bit_ more," the hero explained.

"Listen," Samus sighed, "even if my suit is removed, I won't exactly 'fit in' with the rest of your lot."

"Our lot!?" Link cried indignantly.

"Link…" Zelda groaned. "I am sorry Samus, I have found Link to be something of a short fuse at times. He gets angry if insulted. He's quite the, ah, prideful one."

"So I noticed," Samus grumbled. "But your 'hero' has a point, I do stick out in this suit. There's not a way you can help, can you?" She turned to Link questioningly.

Taken by surprise, Link sputtered, "W-why, yes! What color are the clothes underneath your suit?"

"Blue," Samus said succinctly.

"Excellent!" Link exclaimed, and extracted his Zora Armor from an undisclosed area in hammerspace. "This should work perfectly, you'll look like you've just arrived from Zora's Domain, the people of Kakariko won't question that!"

"Hmph. Very well," She said, and pressed two buttons on her arm cannon simultaneously. Seconds later, a hiss of steam was heard, and white clouds were expelled from multiple joints on Samus' Varia Suit, indicating that the suit was falling off. As expected, the suit disassembled itself, shrinking into a thick orange band that wrapped around Samus' arm.

Link looked at Samus in her blue jumpsuit, and then back at Zelda, before saying, "Y'know, with some different clothes, you could look just like Zelda, seriously!"

"Whatever," Samus shrugged. "Now give me that armor," she commanded.

The Hylian hero rolled his eyes and handed the water-based armor to Samus, who slipped it on with ease. She spun her left arm around for a few seconds and cracking her neck. "It's a bit clunky, but I can live with it,"

"Good, because until we're inside the mountain, you're not taking that armor off, we can't risk you getting seen by the townsfolk!"

"Why can't they see her?" Zelda asked, "I… don't understand why they can't see our friend."

"Oh, you know, oftentimes townsfolk don't take kindly to things they don't understand. It's a villager thing, I don't think you'd get it, princess," Link explained.

"Ah, very well."

* * *

"Nice work Captain!" A fan cheered.

"Ha! Yeah!" Captain Douglas Falcon applauded himself, "I was so hot back there, everyone around me just caught fire! Yeah!"

Despite being a bit of a loudmouth, Falcon's racing skills were unparalleled. His fighting style was an oddity, though. On both the racetrack and the battleground, his speed and attack were incredible, though it wasn't hard to knock him out of the race if an attack made contact.

"Captain," A man said to his right. He was in a very formal suit: black and rectangular with a distinctive red tie. A pair of square sunglasses adorn his angular face.

"Mm?" the racer grunted.

"Here is your ten thousand dollars for winning the race, you were spectacular," The banker stated.

"Yeah! Hah! All you others just got blown away! I hardly even deserve this money, it was so easy! But I'm not one to refuse anything, give it to me!" The banker placed a check worth ten thousand dollars in the glove of Captain Falcon, who punched the air and sped off.

Hopping in his top of the line hovercar, he raced off towards his downtown Mute City penthouse, and decided to take a route that gave him a good view of the Big Blue ocean.

"Computer," The racer said to his car's onboard computer, "Increase speed to… three kilometers per second," he grinned roguishly.

"Maximum speed limit, one-point-five kilometers per second," the feminine voice of computer responded.

"To hell with the speed limit!" Falcon shouted, "Take us to three!"

"…"

"Well?"

"Very well, captain."

* * *

A burst of static crackled across the comm device, _"Progress is going slow, commander," _Unit 207 reported. _"If we don't increase productivity, a hemi-decacycle will pass before we've completed the facility."_

"_That certainly would be a problem, wouldn't it, Unit 207,"_ the higher-ranking space pirate hissed. _"I suggest that you increase the amount of phazon given to our worker elites. If not, then request for more troops down here for the construction. But with the construction of two Tourian facilities, both here and back on Zebes, I think your chances for extra hands are rather limited."_

Unit 207 sighed, "_I… agree, captain, how much should we increase phazon exposure?"_

"_I would recommend 1.87 percent to begin with, and if production speeds aren't at least doubled, then add point ten percent more each day until they are!"_ Commander Unit 13 ordered.

_"Very well sir, phazon exposure, point eighty seven percent, yes sir!" _


	4. Nothing but Magma and Steel

Link: "Hey Samus! Take your suit off!"

Samus: "W-wha!?"

Brave: Hee hee! That was _way_ too fun to write.

* * *

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter III: "Nothing but Magma and Steel"

"Samus, you should get your suit back on, the Zora Armor can't handle such intense heat," Link informed her as the trio approached the main plateau of Death Mountain. The crater was nearby--but it was at least one hundred feet above them.

"I need the Varia Suit for such high temperatures anyway," Samus replied, the suit reforming around her body, encasing it in the Chozo armor. She gazed through the verdant visor towards the peak of Death Mountain, wondering what could be happening inside.

"So, this is Death Mountain…" Zelda said to herself.

"You've never been here?" Link asked, somewhat bemused.

"I've… seen it, peering over the horizon at Hyrule Castle, and looming above me when I've come to visit the people of Kakariko. But never have I been so very near its inner sanctum," Hyrule's princess answered, enthralled by the stony giant.

They continued walking through the craggy formations of rock, as the Hero of Light continued his conversation with Zelda.

"Well, you're gonna see it a lot closer today, enjoy it."

"I'm not sure if that's possible," Samus said quietly.

"Hm?" Zelda turned towards the bounty hunter, but continued along her way.

"Listen, with the pirates occupying the volcano, we're going to have to sneak in. If we're noticed by anyone, then we're probably dead. Or at least, you two are."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Link was getting angry once more, and Zelda was tired of it.

"Link… calm yourself," she said sternly, grabbing his shoulder tightly.

"Nrgh… fine. But my question still stands, what do you mean by that?"

Samus leaped over a tall formation of rock, using her space jump boots. "What I mean is, without any sort of laser technology, you're as good as dead against a space pirate. That, and Link, that mail underneath your tunic won't help you much against a Quantum Assault Cannon. Heck, even a primitive Galvanic Accelerator Cannon would take you out in a shot or two."

"You just wait and see, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Link smirked.

"For your sake, I hope you're right," Samus sneered.

"You two really don't like each other much, do you?" Zelda asked jokingly. Link and Samus turned towards her and gave her a 'come-on-think-about-what-you're-asking-before-you-say-it-the-answer-is-so-obvious' sort of look. "Sorry I asked," she chuckled.

They soon came upon a large, rocky clearing with bursts of steam occasionally emitting from the stone. A crater was carved in the center of the clearing; the rock that had gouged it out was now lying below the Zoran throne room. About one hundred feet up was the entrance to the main caverns of Death Mountain, the Goron Mines.

"Here we are," Link directed, "this is the main hub of Death Mountain. We might be able to clamber up to the main entrance of the mines," he pointed towards a hole in the craggy mountain wall, "or we could take the lift there from the hot springs."

"Taking the main entrance would be folly," Zelda said, examining the opening Link had pointed out. "If these pirates are at all serious about protecting their base here, then they'll have the front door heavily guarded."

"She's right," Samus told Link, who grumbled something inaudible, "If you're saying the elevator is just a faster way to the main entrance, then we can count that out. We're looking for the back door, any suggestions?"

"None at all," Link sighed, disheartened. "I'm afraid that unless we want to go mountain climbing, the gate and the lift are the only way into the Goron Mines."

"The mines…" Samus thought, "Wait! The mines, do they go very deep into the core of the mountain?"

Link pondered for a moment, before answering, "Not deep at all, in fact, I'd say it stays mostly on the inside walls of the mountain, the lava doesn't come too high."

"Excellent, then we're not going into the mines at all!"

"What?!" Link and Zelda cried in unison.

"Shut up, if the pirates hear you we're done for!" Samus whispered. "Anyway, the pirates will be making their base near the core of the heat, like they did with their Tourian base on Planet Zebes, and… You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

Link and Zelda shook their heads.

She heaves a massive sigh before continuing. "Anyway, the pirates built their base on Planet Zebes near the volcanic region of Norfair, deep below the planet's crust. I'll bet that they've attempted to recreate that by trying to get as close to the magma as possible!"

"So you're implying…" Zelda began.

"That we're supposed too…" Link continued.

"Go straight into the heart of Death Mountain?!" They exclaimed together.

_"Shut up!" _Samus hissed, as they had raised their voices once more.

"Sorry…" Link sighed.

* * *

"_Kxxxx! Did you hear something?"_ Space Pirate Aerounit 207 asked his teammate as they patrolled the skies of Death Mountain.

_ "Chkkk!" _Static crackled through the comm device, "_I did, should we check it out_?"

"_It's probably just another one of the stupid rock beasts_," 207 responded.

_"We should be absolutely sure, come, we'll spy from up top,"_ 207's companion, Pirate Areounit 481 hissed.

The engines of the two booster packs belched smoke and sent the pair of aerotroopers soaring up to a high location on the active volcano. They landed on a rocky outcropping, as 207 punched in a code on a device embedded in his right arm.

_"Alter fuel dosage to your pack, the jets are running sloppily,"_ 207 whispered. 481 nodded, and entered the same code into his arm-held computer.

_"Activating zoom scope,"_ Unit 481 said as he entered yet another code into his computer. A lens slid from his helmet and over the aerotrooper's left eye. The pirate looked from side to side, searching for what caused the noise.

_"I see nothing, let's- Wait!"_ 481 leaned forward, looking through the smoke. _"Orange armor, green cannon… 207! It's the hunter!"_

_"What?!"_ 207 cried, _"The hunter's ship crashed! How could she have survived?"_

_"Don't ask questions, the hunter single-handedly demolished our operations on Tallon IV as well as on Planet Aether. If the hunter did such things, then she can definitely survive a starship crash. We must take her by surprise! Attack!"_

The two pirates swished down through the air towards Samus and her companions. It would've been an effective surprise attack if the booster packs didn't make such a racket.

"Here come aerotroopers, two of them, I'd say," Samus said, looking through the dense smoke that hung around the middle region of the mountain. Link chose not to argue, and readied his bow, Zelda followed suit, withdrawing hers.

"No," the bounty hunter didn't turn, "Your primitive weapons are no match for pirate technology. Get out of the way before you get hurt."

"But…" Link began.

"Move!" Zelda pushed him behind a rock as two blasts from Quantum Assault Cannons, (hereon referred to as QAC's), impacted where they were standing nanoseconds earlier.

"Wait for it…" Samus was charging her power beam, aiming at Unit 481.

_"481!"_

"Wait for it…"

_"Don't interrupt, 207, I've almost got a clear shot,"_ 481 retorted.

"Perfect," Samus sneered, the charged shot collapsing upon itself, and imbuing its power into a missile.

_"NO!"_ Unit 207 screamed.

"Go! Super Missile!" Samus yelled to her arm cannon, though it was completely unnecessary.

_BOOM!_

The super missile hit its target, sending a compact but deadly thermonuclear explosion through the insectoid body of Pirate Unit 481. The missile killed him instantly, sending his partner, 207, fleeing towards the commander's chamber. Fillet of Space Pirate was sent splattering over the stony ground, a piece landing on Link.

"Get back here!" Samus gritted her teeth shooting ice shot after ice shot after the aerotrooper. A few shots hit his left arm, rendering it temporarily useless, but no permanent damage was caused.

"Urgh…" she groaned, sitting down on the volcanic rock as the two Hylians emerged from hiding. The Hunter looked towards them, and turned her head to face the peak of Death Mountain.

"You… you were amazing!" Link exclaimed, quite impressed by Samus' sharpshooting. She shrugged it off, and got to her feet, and dialed in a code on her cannon.

"And that is…?" Link inquired.

"Checking on my ship, seeing if it's repaired itself yet," Samus explained. "Good, it's almost completely done, 97 hull integrity, 78 shield strength, main engines at 92, auxiliary engines at 89, and weapon systems at 62. Things are going well, we should be able to make a quick escape from the mountain if things go well!"

"That is excellent," Zelda smiled, "I am glad that you have such knowledge of your devices."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the bounty hunter turned towards the mountain. A computerized inside her suit's computer informed her that her, _"Screw attack is online, space jump is online."_

"Excellent. Link, Zelda, I'll send down a line for you in a second!"

"What?" Was the only thing Samus could hear Link say before she flew up into the cloud of smoke and ash. Within a few seconds, a light blue ray of energy trailed down towards the two ylians, who grabbed it after a moment's hesitation. The beam whisked them off their feet, and pulled them up hundreds of feet into the air! They soon landed on a rocky outcropping, and paused for a moment to catch their breath, only to see Samus retracting her grapple beam.

She pointed up the precipice towards a small fissure in the rock. It was large enough for two people to crawl through, with anyone else trailing behind.

"Let's go, we've still got a ways," She said, still gesturing at the crack. Link sighed, and hooked arms with Zelda, and fired his clawshot towards a clump of charred iron mesh that was hanging from the small cavern. He and Zelda slipped through the opening, with Samus close behind them, using her space jump and screw attack to reach the fissure.

"Ugh… this heat!" Link grunted as the rocks glowed red with the heat of volcanic magma. "I'm not sure I can take much more of this!"

"Don't worry Link, you survived the Goron Mines, you'll be able to survive this!" Zelda smiled warmly.

"Hoo… thanks… Zelda. It's …ah… just that the Goron Mines weren't _quite_ this hot. We're a lot deeper into Death Mountain than I was last time!"

"Just suck it up, kid," Samus sneered, "we'll be out this in no time."

"Easy for you to say! You're the one with the suit!"

"I'm so glad you informed me, I never would've guessed otherwise," Samus rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You… are just asking for it… Samus," Link panted, Zelda was definitely showing signs of weariness at this point, having been brought up in a royal house, she had never been exposed to these sorts of temperatures.

"Be quiet, you stupid little elf, we're here!" Samus whispered to Link, as he almost toppled off a small cliff. It was true, they had entered the main crater on Death Mountain, high above the source of the lava.

"There's nothing here but magma and steel," Samus observed, looking down at the metal scaffolding that had been erected on the edges of the volcano. "Wait… there's a geothermal generator! And another! The pirates are using the volcano's heat to power their machines, brilliant!"

"I… agree," Link gasped. "But, now what do we do? We've found their main base, how are we supposed to take care of it?"

Zelda had remained quiet for a while, conserving her energy.

"Well, I say we lay a bomb or two, and have them do the work. It may take a while to set up, but the results will be spectacular!"

"Samus! We're here to save this place, not blow it up! If we can cripple the pirates operations without harming Death Mountain, that would help us a great deal more!"

"I-I… oh!" Zelda had tried to agree with Link, but had expended the last of her energy, causing her to faint! The princess fell, unconscious, to the hot floor.

"Not… good…" Link winced.

"Listen, there's a large command pod supported by three beams down near the magma. If we can destroy those beams we're in good shape, as that command pod holds one of their main generators. We'll be taking out someone in charge of the operation, and overloading or destroying one of the pirate's generators! We win, no matter what happens!" Samus was enjoying her plan, as it was a very good idea.

"Alright, I've picked up a bit of magic in my travels, three spells aligned with the three goddesses of Hyrule. They may be able to help, they are divine magicks, after all," Link offered, Samus looked away.

"Gods, magic, pah," she spat.

"What, you don't believe in an all powerful being or beings?" Link asked.

"To me, the only all powerful beings are my weapons, my ship, and my money, nothing else'll cloud my judgment."

Link gave her a weird look, but returned to the beams. "I'll use Farore's Wind to move the beam to another area, like into the magma, your super missiles should do the job."

"Super Missiles won't cut it. I need to make it more brittle first, like so." She switched her arm cannon to the ice beam, and infused missiles into the firing chamber. The Ice Spreader was activated, freezing the three support beams in a single burst.

"And _now_ they'll do the job," She grinned as a super missile burst from her cannon and ripping through one of the support beams.

"Now! Farore's Wind, and Din's Fire!" Link directed two spells towards the remaining to beams, Din's Fire melting through the ice and destroying the shaft. The other spell jarred the rod loose of its niche, and causing it to spiral into the lava below.

Then, with no support, the command pod slid into the boiling recess below, obliterating the metallic oval. In seconds, the intense heat of the magma had boiled away the steel pod and destroyed its contents, leaving nothing but a few remaining scraps that swiftly burned away.

Link gave a half-smile to Samus, and hoisted Zelda over his shoulders. Their mission on Death Mountain was done.


	5. The One that got Away

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter IV: The One that got Away

A large vessel hung in orbit around the planet Tednonin, awaiting further instructions from their ground command. They were to receive orders by 0800 hours, and to follow them without hesitation. It was now nine o'clock in the morning; exactly one hour past deadline, and no communication had been received.

The spacecraft in question was the SPS Vol Paragom, one of the three research frigates to escape the destruction of Tourian on Zebes. After Samus had raided the base and destroyed the ex-Chozo supercomputer Mother Brain, a self-destruct countdown had activated, obliterating most to all of Tourian, and none of Samus or her gunship. As the resulting explosion annihilated the majority of pirate personnel on the planet, three research frigates and an unknown amount of gunships and battlecruisers managed to escape Zebes.

The three research frigates were Orpheon, Siriacus, and Vol Paragom. SPS Orpheon was in the orbit of Tallon IV when Samus Aran arrived, mistaking its distress call for that of the GFS Tyr, which was destroyed on planet Aether. After a crippled Parasite Queen fell into Orpheon's main reactor, the frigate plummeted to Tallon IV, and was submerged in the Tallon Overworld. The Hunter later returned to access the Phazon Mines through the frigate, but that's another story.

SPS Vol Paragom continued its orbit around Tednonin, awaiting orders from New Tourian Command.

_ "The bridge is getting impatient, we need a report from ground command!"_ The Lieutenant Commander; one of the yellow armored Power Troopers, snarled at one of his Ensigns. _"Vol Paragom is not a warship, it is a research facility! Our weapons are strictly wired to not draw power from specimens deemed 'critical', which is about all of them at this point. Phazon supplies are running low, and we're going to either have to disobey High Command and retreat, or make contact with ground command!"_

_"…I apologize, sir,"_ Ensign 826 muttered. _"We have hailed ground command at New Tourian multiple times, but no response! If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're being ignored, or something awful has happened!"_

_"Little to no chance of the hunter getting in, her ship was taken down by Siriacus before we entered orbit,"_ Lt. Commander 98 mused. _"And absolutely no chance of any of those primitive apes breaching our defenses. They lack even the most rudimentary form of plasma weaponry, let alone ion and laser technology._"

After Samus Aran had destroyed Orpheon over the skies of Tallon IV, the SPS Siriacus was refitted as a military transport, under the guise of a captured pirate research vessel. A series of codes and computer bypasses were stolen from the GFS Mjolnir, a battleship under the command of Captain Hugo, assigned to observing activity around the binary planets of Twin Tabula.

After that, the bounty hunter was hailed by the disguised Siriacus, and she docked upon the ship, expecting a new assignment with reasonable pay. Unfortunately, all she received was a salvo of laser fire from the pirate ambush. Turning engines to full reverse, she just barely managed to escape in her gunship. As she escaped, Samus bombarded the primary engines of the frigate with a volley of photon bombs, effectively neutralizing the Siriacus' main form of propulsion.

With only auxiliary engines in effect, the Siriacus fell into a decaying orbit, and as the hunter's gunship fired round after round of particle and concussive weapons into its hull, the pirate frigate was on the verge of destruction. However, in a lucky shot, one of the SPS Siriacus' turbolasers managed to strike a hit on the underbelly of Samus' ship, disabling shields, engines, missiles, bombs, lasers, and reducing hull integrity to less than 30.

Both ships were sent spiraling into the Hyrule region, Siriacus actually crash-landed at the next location it was assigned to after the destruction of Samus, Death Mountain. It was filled with pirate troopers to construct the base of New Tourian. The Hunter-class Gunship landed in a desolate region of the Faron Woods, and you know the rest.

Currently, however…

* * *

"Ugh… Link… W-where am I…?"

"Zelda!" The Hero of Light rushed to her side, she was lying on a flat slab of stone near Kakariko Village. Samus had once more removed her Varia Suit, and donned the Zora Armor presented to her by Link. She was examining the princess for any signs of burning from the intense heat of Death Mountain.

"How're you feeling, Zelda?" Link asked worriedly. When the princess had collapsed, she landed quite near a small magma-spewing crevasse, and both Link and Samus were worried about her health.

"Mm… fine, Link. Thanks for asking," She replied. When she tried to get up, however, "Ungh!" she grunted, and fell back to the stone plate.

"Thought so," Samus nodded, "I'm no doctor, but I'd say she's got a second-degree burn to her left calf and most of her left ankle. It'll keep her from walking for a while, so I'll transport her back to the castle. She'll be safe there."

"No… no," Princess Zelda grumbled. "I'll be fine with you two. Link, go down to Kakariko and buy some salve or potions, will you?"

"There's no need," he smiled, "I got one while you were out, along with some herbs and bandages, I thought they'd help!" Link bent down and bandaged Zelda's leg with the linen strips he purchased in the town, as stuffed them with the healing herbs. He then offered the potion to the princess, who downed it quickly, which started the healing process.

"Your ways of medicine never cease to amaze me," Samus shook her head, her ponytail swaying back and forth as she did so. Her head was one of the few things that she didn't like encased in the armor, she didn't like the feel of the Zoran helmet.

"Despite the potion," Link said, "Zelda'll still take some time to heal. We should take her to your ship so she can rest there.

"Oh no you don't!" Samus exclaimed. "I'll not be having anyone of you in my ship, it's strictly for my use only. I'm not going to lose _another_ ship on this mission, my ship has already been destroyed once, back on Zebes. This one barely survived Tallon IV and Aether, I won't have this one downed.

"I'm not taking any chances here, so you're not setting foot in my ship!"

"Samus…" Zelda groaned. "You can't seriously…"

"That's the final word, nothing anyone can say will change my mind!"

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"Auxiliary call?" Samus said incredulously. "Whose identification do I have that would be under auxiliary? She pulled a small comm device from the suit that was coiled into a band on her arm.

"This is Samus Aran, bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. State your name and business, or the call will be terminated."

A small beat of static rippled through the communication line. _"Chhkx- It's-a me! Mario!" _

"Oh… you, why are you calling me? Is it important enough to disturb me from my work?"

_"It's-a very important!"_ the plumber said in his thick Italian accent, _"I've seen your position, you're in Hyrule, correct?"_

"Correct, get to the point." Samus was getting irritated; she's not the most patient person in the galaxy, as you can see.

_"Are-a you aware that a large space ship is staying in an orbit around the planet? It recently stopped its circular orbit, and is staying in place above Hyrule!" _

"Cut to the chase, what were the identifications of this vessel?"

_"After a quick scan, we-a discovered the ship is classified as the SPS Vol Paragom. Is that name familiar?"_

"Hold a moment," Samus said into the commlink. She tapped a button on her Varia Band, and a panel slid back, revealing a small viewscreen. She tapped to a section that read 'logbook', and then to a subsection 'scan data'. Once more, she accessed one area called 'pirate data', and then to an article named 'Fall of Zebes'. It read:

_Log 09.992.3:_

_Zebes has fallen. All ground personnel are presumed dead, either killed by the Hunter clad in metal or in the subsequent destruction of the underground facilities. Our research frigates _Orpheon_, _Siriacus_, and _Vol Paragom_ were in orbit at zero hour and managed to retreat. Frigate Orpheon is now docked at Vortex Outpost. Orpheon's cargo appears to have a 100 survival rate; Metroids are healthy but on restricted feeding schedules due to uncertain supply status. We are ready to begin research on the Metroids and other promising life forms. Security status remains and Code Blue; no signs of pursuit from the Hunter._

"Vol Paragom, the one that got away!" Samus exclaimed. "Mario, that's a Space Pirate Frigate, they're searching for me. I don't think I can leave the atmosphere with them there, even their research frigates are fairly well armed."

_"Hmm…"_ Mario could be heard thinking about another move. _"Listen up, we're calling everyone of the Smashers to a Space Station in a 36º orbit around Tednonin. It's equipped with light weaponry, so we can distract the frigate while you strike a final blow with your gunship!"_

"Hmph. It's a good plan, I'll go with it for now," Samus answered grudgingly.

"In return, however, you'll have to dock here at the space station SSB-BII to hear me out. Once we've taken down Vol Paragom, you can enter docking bay 94. Ah yes, and if you have contact with any of the other Smashers, Link and Zelda for instance, take them with you."

"Ninety-four, got it." Samus concluded, and then cut the transmission. "I'd better be getting paid for this," the bounty hunter grumbled.

"And…?" Link asked.

"That was Mario. You know, that plumber guy? In the red and blue?"

"Ah, Mario. I know the guy," Link said.

"I'm not surprised, he hosted the two Super Smash Bros Tournaments, 64 and Melee."

"I still don't know what the 64 meant…" Link murmured.

"Don't ask. Anyway, by the way things look, you'll be coming with me on my ship. Mario requests a formal meeting of all the Smashers, you two included. Complicating things, though, is the pirate frigate Vol Paragom, it's stationed in space, above Hyrule."

"That certainly is an noteworthy issue," Zelda said quietly. "If they've got defenses, then we are in trouble."

"Yes, but there's one thing, there's a space station that's on a direct course to intercept the frigate, which could buy us time to hit them hard. But it's a station, not a battleship, so its weapons are mainly ion-based, just enough to disable them. We've got to strike the final blow," Samus explained.

"So, in other words," Link paraphrased, "We take your ship, the space station distracts 'em, and we take the frigate out!"

"Exactly, so hurry!"

* * *

"So, ya gonna pay fer yer drink, er whut, vixen?" The surly six-armed bartender rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, and chuckled nastily.

"Pah, you'll have your money when I'm ready for you to have it, or you'll have a blaster to your nose, slimy," The fox reached towards its holster.

"Gruh, fine by me, but yer pickin' up a big ol' tab here, missy. I migh' 'tract good clients fer ya, but ya still gotta pay fer yer grub," The bartender, Coute, grumbled.

"Listen, you're just another barman getting on my nerves, I've killed bigger than you, what's stopping me from doing it now?"

"This," Coute sneered maliciously, removing his six hands from beneath the counter, four of which held plasma grenades, thumbs on the detonators. "Try anythin' funny, and I'll blow this 'ole place to kingdum come, you 'cluded, vixen."

The fox snarled, and pulled up a facemask. "I like your style, Coute. You'll see plenty more of my money here in the future. Oh, and here's for the drink, and the last three as well," The vixen threw a silver, triangular credit onto the counter, which the bartender quickly pocketed.

"Yer money, that's whut I like to see, yer face is getting to be quite a familiar one here, innit? Er rather," He let out a disgusting laugh, his piggish mug spewing mucus onto his filthy counter, "I don' see yer face much, so I guess yer mask is becomin' most familiar here!"

"Pah, your pathetic attempt at humor isn't even worth a mention. Just remember this, if you spot anyone with a load of trouble and a deep wallet, remember this name. Kursed will always be here for any job worth her salt."


	6. Mercenaries and a Hunter

Brave: Just because I have chapters in backup doesn't mean I don't want to know what you think of this! Reviews are still **very** appreciated.

* * *

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter V: Mercenaries and a Hunter

"C'mon, Cloudrunner, let's go," The 'mysterious' mercenary, Kursed, was in the cockpit of her faithful Saurowing, Cloudrunner. This modified Arwing was designed and named after the pteranodon-like Saurians, the Cloudrunners. If you were part of the Cornerian Police Force, you might have seen this particular ship flying with both the Star Fox and Star Wolf mercenary teams at some point in time.

This is because Kursed was at point known through the Lylat System as Krystal of the Star Fox team. Before and after the Anglar Conflict in Lylat, a series of bad choices by the team's leader, Fox McCloud, pushed Krystal away from the team and into Star Wolf's hands, along with the nefarious Wolf O'Donnell, seemingly crazy Leon Powalski and the beguiling Panther Coroso.

But, interestingly enough, it was not Star Fox that saved the Lylat System that time, but Wolf's team, Krystal included. Though, months after the victory, people whispered of how the blue vixen had betrayed her team, and joined up with their rivals. Soon, they became bolder, insulting her to her face, jeering, spitting and shooting, and eventually she disappeared completely from known space.

Fox McCloud, desperately searching for his girlfriend, actually found her at one point, on the remote planet of Kue. He did not recognize her; she was already the deceptive, deceitful Kursed.

After that, nothing more was heard of Star Fox, and Star Wolf became known as the protectors and heroes of the Lylat System…

"Let's go girl," Kursed coaxed her Saurowing off the asteroid housing the spaceport of Rue Waori. It was contained in the asteroid belt that hung between the dangerous Sector Z and the now cleansed oceans of Zoness.

"We're going to have to find a job soon, you're getting pretty banged up, girl, and we need the money," Kursed still retained her accent: somewhat English. The only time she had to disguise it was when Fox McCloud had encountered her back on Kue.

She sighed, "Fox… you were good leader, and a good person. But you shouldn't have asked me to leave the team. You were a fool, McCloud, and I can't forgive you so easily as you would hope," She gazed out the transparisteel that made up the viewport of the Cloudrunner, back towards Zoness.

"I never did complete a mission there," she stared at the planet that was once polluted by Andross' insane experiments, when the Cloudrunner said:

_"Do you not remember, Kursed, the mission you took alone with Fox McCloud on that planet?"_ the Cloudrunner's mechanical voice spoke similarly to ROB-64, the Great Fox's pilot android.

"I never finished that mission, Cloudrunner, remember? I never made it to the base, I was shot down," She had landed temporarily on a rogue asteroid that was drifting towards Zoness.

_"But remember,"_ Cloudrunner continued, _"Fox McCloud saved you, he even aborted the mission to rescue you and myself. He sent Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad to finish the mission and destroy Andrew Oikonny's production factories there. They stopped the pollution as Fox McCloud tended to your wounds. You would have died, if not for him."_

"That's enough, Cloudrunner," Kursed said sadly, activating the engines.

_"I am shutting up… Krystal,"_ the ship's mechanical voice stopped, and the blue-furred fox looked at the speakers for a moment, then shot towards Zoness.

* * *

"Computer! Activate procedures for emergency liftoff!" Samus shouted at her ship as she, Link, and Zelda dashed towards it. The entrance chute on top slid open, leaving an aperture for the three to slip in.

"C'mon! Get in!" She yelled at her companions. "We don't have much time!" As she said this, the hunter jumped atop the ship and into the cockpit through the chute. Link jumped up, and pulled himself to the top, grabbed Zelda's hand, and pulled her up, they descended into the cockpit together.

"It's a bit cramped, it was only designed for me and a corpse," Samus chuckled as the two Hylians were squished together in the small quarters of Samus' Hunter-Class Gunship.

"Atomic battery, full power. Particle weapons, online, concussive weapons, online. Shields, full power. Engines, full power. Alright, we're ready to go! Hold on!" The gunship slowly ascended and pulled away from the ground as its primary engines powered up. "Aaaannd… lift off!" The ship rocketed into the sky, as if shot from a cannon.

The main computer screen flickered to life, reading: Incoming Message. The face of Mario flickered on screen, with Luigi right behind him, fiddling with some machinery.

_"Alright, the SSB-BII is in firing range, are-a you ready Samus?"_

"I'm ready, just shoot the damn frigate."

"Mama mia…" Mario grumbled, and cut the transmission. The gunship was entering the ionosphere of Tednonin.

"We're almost there, this is where the fun begins," Samus grinned, half to her passengers, half to herself.

"Fun…?" Zelda asked tentatively.

"By that, she means we're in for a rough time, Zelda," Link answered.

"Oh joy…" She sighed.

"We're entering the atmosphere…" Samus' excitement was growing with each second, her eyes narrowing and cocky grin growing larger.

_KKCX! "We're attempting to gain communication with the frigate first, Samus!"/i Luigi told them through the computer. "If it doesn't work, we're-a goin' to fire the first shots. If they take-a the bait… we'll wait for you to clear the atmosphere, then fire the ion cannons! I'll keep the comm. lines open, Luigi out."_

"Get ready, we're midway through the atmosphere, I'll have a visual in a moment," Samus' palm was hovering over the panel that would launch the photon missiles.

"Brace yourself, Zelda!" Link said to her.

"How?" She asked. "There isn't enough room!"

"Well, hold onto something!"

"There isn't enough room for that either!" Link just laughed to himself.

Luigi flickered back on the screen, _"Contact has been made, and they seem to be taking it well, they've said they won't fire on us! They're-a not too talkative…"_

"That's just because they're a research vessel, the pirates on board those ships won't shoot unless they either see me, or you open fire upon them!"

_"I'll-a keep that in mind, we're charging the ion cannons. Only emerge from the cloud cover after the first strike has been made! Luigi out."_

The ship powered down to just enough to continue life support and to hang in the atmosphere.

"Just wait, we'll blow those pirates to bits!"

"Let's hope they haven't seen through our ruse…" Zelda worried.

"Don't worry, Zelda, this is foolproof!" Link encouraged.

* * *

_"Lieutenant Commander!"_ One of the research aides approached Lt. Commander Unit 98.

_"Gruhh… what is it this time?"_ he asked impatiently.

_"Sir, the vessel has given identification as the SSB-BII, it's not in any of our identification records."_

_"It must be a recently constructed vessel, did that thought ever enter your thick carapace?"_

_"Yes, but sir… They're readying ion-based weaponry, and targeting us!"_

_"What?!"_ Lt. Commander 98 exclaimed. He turned quickly to the rest of the bridge, _"Bridge! Prepare evasive maneuvers! We're going to be under attack in a matter of seconds!"_

_"Sir, we can't move that quickly, we've volatile Metroid specimens, as well as far from docile Phazon mutations! Evasive maneuvers would be suicide!"_ Vol Paragom's helmsman responded.

_"__Not taking evasive action would be suicide as well!"_

_"Not necessarily! They're only using ion beams, that'll just disable our vessel!"_

_"That includes specimen containment and biohazard disposal, as well as our engines!" The Lieutenant Commander shot back._

_"Then… we're pinned." The ensign that spoke to Lt. Commander earlier came to the disheartening realization. "There's no way out, either we destroy our specimen containers ourselves… or they do it for us. Lt. Commander… Vol Paragom is finished._"

Unit 98 clicked a trigger on his let arm, and the Quantum Assault Cannon killed the ensign immediately.

_"Vol Paragom will never surrender, open fire upon the station! Kill everyone on board! Destroy them all! With their life-support disabled, it will just be a matter of seconds before this station is destroyed!"_

The bridge returned to their work, and prepared their own ion lasers. The frigate has no true offensive weapons, only enough to paralyze their targets. Most of the pirate frigates are accompanied by a fleet of small, one-man ships, though in their hubris, the pirates failed to recognize the danger of the Hunter surviving their ambush in such a remote corner of the Faimmoc System.

Suddenly, _BLAM!_ an ion bolt hit the top of the SPS Vol Paragom!

_"Open fire!"_

_"Sir! That's impossible! That first shot disabled our weaponry! We're defenseless!"_

* * *

"Alright Samus! You're-a clear! Go take down that frigate!" Luigi instructed through the computer.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Samus grinned, and hit the thrusters, zooming towards the frigate.

"Vol Paragom is in firing range, loose concussion missiles!" Samus hit the trigger, sending a volley of five missiles towards the capital ship. _Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! _All five made direct contact with Vol Paragom, knocking out their particle shields and their secondary thrusters.

_"Captain! Lt. Commander!"_ A pirate on the bridge shrieked._ "The Hunter has appeared! She's already knocked out our main particle shields, and our auxiliary engines!"_

_"The Hunter? Our weapons are down, as well as particle shields_ and _auxiliary thrusters?!"_

_"Lt. Commander! The concussion missiles fired by the hunter have made a breach in quarantine sectors 2, 8, and 11! There are Metroids and mutations running rampant! They've already taken down our secondary ray shields as well as main engines!"_

_"Kssaaa!"_ Lt. Commander 98 swore, reverting the his native tongue, _"Ykur'in thoron unim Samus! Thrak'oni neorn!"_

_Crash! BOOM! Foosh!_ Three more explosions could be felt and heard as a salvo of photon bombs impacted on the hull of Vol Paragom, breaching both shields and armor.

_"Sir! Main power has been lost on all decks, reverting to backup generators!"_

_**BOOM!**_

_"Auxiliary power has been lost to all decks! Captain, Lt. Commander… we're dead in space,"_ Lieutenant 487 groaned.

Flames spewed from the multiple hull breaches in Vol Paragon as the ship's orbit slowly decayed, sending it towards the Hylian sea. More bombs hit the ship until it's main reactor gave out, the photon reactor exploded upon itself, destroying the frigate. Most of the shards burned up in the atmosphere.

"Yeah! We did it!" Link exclaimed, and Samus turned around and stared at him. "Fine… you did it, Samus." The hunter smiled and nodded, and directed her ship towards the SSB-BII's docking by 94.


	7. Calling All Smashers!

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter VI: Calling All Smashers!

A small spacecraft flew slowly through the deep reaches of the ether with no true purpose about it. The craft was an Arwing named the Little Wyvern, it had once belonged to a great man named James McCloud, and he had passed in down to his son, Fox.

"ROB…?" Fox asked his android companion, ROB64, who had compressed himself back behind Fox's seat.

_"Yes, Fox? What are your instructions?"_

"Life… is quite dull. Star Fox has been disbanded, Wolf and his team are being hailed as heroes, they have been for the past year or two, I can't remember how long, time has melded into itself. We get next to no recognition for helping out, we only get minor jobs, like running a group of pirates out of Venom or some other remote planet.

"What… what has become of Falco? What of Slippy? And… what happened to… Where is Krystal…? Peppy has retired; he never liked the position of general anyway. Star Fox has been destroyed, ROB. You and I… we're no more than common mercenaries now, not well-known heroes who saved the Lylat System time and time again, just… Fox and ROB. All I've really got left are you and my father's Arwing," he sighed.

"_Fox… you know I am incapable of true emotion, but I will try my best to sympathize with you. I apologize if it is inadequate. But remember, Star Fox will always exist, even if you may not know it, you, Falco, Slippy, and Krystal are performing great deeds across the Lylat System and the galaxy,"_ ROB-64 said mechanically.

"Huh… thanks… ROB," Fox sighed gratefully. "I'll bet that after a while, one of these days… one of my jobs will have me cross paths with all of them at some point. But…" a grin stretched across Fox's tawny face for the first time in months, "why wait? ROB! Give me the last known locations of Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare!"

_"Accessing data… translating encrypted files. Processing… PROCESSING!"_

"Hey… ROB, don't overdo it," Fox chuckled.

_"Last known locations found," Fox's android responded. "Slippy Toad: Planet Aquas, Atlaan City. Falco Lombardi: Planet Zoness, Tomcan City. Peppy Hare: Planet Corneria: Corneria City; suburb; Huskaria Town."_

"Nice work, ROB, thanks a lot! And now we just have to…"

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"What the…?"

_"Auxiliary Call coming from a location in orbit of Planet Tednonin in the Faimmoc System,"_ ROB informed.

"Hmm… interesting," Fox said. "On screen!" The video message appeared on the Little Wyvern's transparisteel window.

_"This is Mario, and congratulations! You, Fox McCloud, are-a cordially invited to the space station SSB-BII, in orbit of Planet Tednonin. You are scheduled to meet at the Smash Station at 1200 hours, MST. (Mushroom Standard Time). Oh, and by the way, should you accept and complete the requirements, your pay will be in excess of 20,000 Cornerian Official Credits."_

_"This message was recorded ahead of time,"_ ROB-64 explained. _"The transmission ends here."_

"The Smash Station, eh? Sounds like that plumber is pulling another Smash Bros. on us… But… twenty thousand credits… this could give us a new set of new G-Diffusers and everything! ROB, if he's calling me, then he must have called Falco as well, he joined me last time! If I meet up with him… that might give me a clue to the whereabouts of the rest of the team! Activate warp drive! Warp 2 to Planet Tednonin!"

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"Urrgghh…"

_"Captain?"_ A cool female voice said from above Captain Falcon's bed. _"You are getting a call, it looks to be a Priority 8 auxiliary call."_

Bolting out of bed, the red-helmetted head of Captain Falcon looks at the clock. 2 in the morning. "Who in their right mind would call the totally pwnage Captain Falcon at this damnable hour?!" Douglas Falcon yelled in annoyance. "Grah! Yes?! Hello!?"

Falcon's videophone gave a beep and showed the face of Mario on it. The recording said:

_"__This is Mario, and congratulations! You, Douglas Jay Falcon, are-a cordially invited to the space station SSB-BII, in orbit of Planet Tednonin. You are scheduled to meet at the Smash Station at 1200 hours, MST. (Mushroom Standard Time). Oh, and by the way, should you accept and complete the requirements, your pay will be in excess of 100,000 American Dollars."_

"What?! A Hundred Grand just for showing off my mad skills for those chumps? Ha! Count me in, fatty! Computer, ready the Falcon Flyer!"

_"As you wish, Captain."_ The computer said calmly.

* * *

"Cloudrunner… plot me a course for Sector Y, there's someone at Sargasso I need to have a little talk with," Kursed snarled.

_"One moment, Kursed, you are getting a priority 8 auxiliary call from a station in orbit around Planet Tednonin. I'm putting it on screen for you."_

"Thank you, Cloudrunner," Kursed responded.

_"__This is Mario, and congratulations! You, Krystal, or… should I call you Kursed, I'm a bit confused. Anyway, you are-a cordially invited to the space station SSB-BII, in orbit of Planet Tednonin. You are scheduled to meet at the Smash Station at 1200 hours, MST. (Mushroom Standard Time). Oh, and by the way, should you accept and complete the requirements, your pay will be in excess of 20,000 Cornerian Official Credits."_

"Man… how does that plumber find so much out? My identity… even the comm channel my Saurowing runs on… Hmph. Never mind, Cloudrunner, we need the money, set a course for Tednonin. Activate Warp Drive, Warp 2!"

* * *

"Heh heh heh… Good ol' Wolfen, plot me a course for Tednonin!"

* * *

"POYO!"

* * *

"Triforce of Power! Grant me strength!"

* * *

"Let's see if I'm truly fast enough to break through space itself. This'll be the ultimate test of my speed!"

* * *

"Garoo! C'mon Diddy, let's go!"

* * *

"Wa-ha-ha! Orbulon! Get ready that ship o' yours!"

* * *

"Gwa-ha-ha! Mario… you don't stand a chance against me!"

"Yeah! Go get 'im papa!"

* * *

"So… he's foolish enough to invite _me_ to his base? Captain, change course once more!"

* * *

"Smash Bros? Heh, watch out Fox, here I come!"

* * *

"For Altea! Sheeda... please watch over the kingdom in my stead. Jeigan!"

"Your majesty."

"Make sure nothing happens to the place while I'm gone. Keep Sheeda safe. That goes double for you two, Kain, Abel."

"Of course!"

* * *

"Invited again? C'mon dad, let's make Pherae proud!"

* * *

"Beep!"

* * *

"Oh, alright, Albatross, you get this eggplant!"

* * *

"Yoshi!"

* * *

"Sa-weet! Thanks Mario, that's just peachy!"

* * *

"Hey mom! I'm going out to play!"

* * *

"Pika, pika!"

"Jigglypuff!"

"Heh… so you two are going as well…? Humans are still such hateful creatures, I'll defeat every last one them… My psychic power is unmatched!"

* * *

"I've beaten the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Leagues! Time to truly see what these three can do!"

* * *

The hiss of steam could be heard as Samus' gunship docked in the hangar of SSB-BII, it was roughly large enough for one craft the size of the gunship. Samus exited her vessel impressively, and Link and Zelda exited in her wake. At the other end of the docking bay, a door slid open with a hiss of steam, and a squat figure emerged through the aperture.

"Ah, it's-a Samus! Nice to-a see you!" Mario greeted the bounty hunter as respectfully as he could, and his brother Luigi stepped from behind him.

"Yes, it's nice to see you again, as well as other man in green, Link, and the Princess Zelda! I hope you enjoy your stay here on the Smash Station, SSB-BII!"

"Smash… wait!" Link exclaimed, "Are you saying that you called us here for another one of your tournaments!?"

"Ah… somewhat…" Mario mumbled. "But you've also been called for a more urgent matter, come to the dining hall, we'll wait there for the other Smashers to arrive."

He beckoned for them to follow him, and they came behind him rather agreeably. They walked down a long corridor that was made of gleaming metal and covered with flashing lights and panels.

"This is a well-constructed station, how did you build it in such a short time?" Samus asked Mario.

"Well-a most of it was already there when you fought in the Melee Tournament, during the Escape to the Finish you dashed through it's core workings, and you flew by it after you had finished the our simulations. So, you've actually seen quite a bit of it!"

"Hmm… I suppose that makes sense…"


	8. Introductions

Brave: I dunno. This chapter felt a little awkward when I first wrote it. I hope it's not too eye-bleedingly bad.

* * *

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter VII: Introductions

"Activate primary screen," Meta Knight commanded. A large view screen slid down from the ceiling of his quarters.

"Ahem! My lord minister," He addressed the screen.

"Ah… the knight has news for his king," The Ancient Minister said calmly, both of his hands were with him at this point. "What have you discovered in your absence?"

"It appears that our enemies are stronger than we thought. With the minor aid of the SSB-BII, the Hunter, Samus, had taken down the SPS Vol Paragom. We are not to underestimate this one, she has a 99.29 completion rate, after all," Meta Knight informed.

"Hmm…" Master Hand stroked the 'chin' of the Ancient Minister, "What of the other point-seven-one percent?"

"A failed mission on the planet of Sol III. The details are unclear, but research has uncovered encrypted documents on a massively powerful nuclear reaction device. She was charged to destroy it, but the machine survived her assaults. Its creator has since disappeared. We have reason to believe the Space Pirates stole the device after its creator's escape. She is a formidable opponent," the Knight explained.

"Anything else?" The Minister himself asked.

"Yes, the pirate base on Hyrule was also crippled in a tandem operation between her and a hylian named Link. It is regrettable, but our platoon of Primids is still marching through the Hylian Sea. It appears I vastly misjudged the pirates' ability. Ah… but I have good news for you, my Minister!"

"AHA! WAFFLES!" Crazy Hand exclaimed randomly.

"I have another hand now, left," The Minister snarled. "I shall fulfill my promise," Master Hand viciously slapped his brother, under the control of the Subspace Leader.

"Er… yes…" Meta Knight's eyes shifted from side to side. "My report is that I recently received a priority eight auxiliary call from Mario himself. He invited me to his base, SSB-BII, codenamed the Smash Station. It is the ship that aided Samus in her destruction of the SPS Vol Paragom.

"I will accept this invitation and relay all information back to you. You cannot refuse us this chance, my lord minister," Meta Knight bowed.

"And I shall not, my knight. I can see that your battleship is already on course for the station, excellent," The Minister approved.

"Excellent, I shall contact you in three days time. Their doom is nigh! The Smashers cannot escape the power of Meta Knight, the Subspace Emissary!"

* * *

"Thank you for-a being so punctual, Samus," Mario thanked the hunter, "and you too, Link, as well as her highness, Princess Zelda. I appreciate you coming here today, for when all the other Smashers arrive, we have very important business to discuss."

Samus had her Chozo armorsuit on once more; its life-support was slightly better than the one on the SSB-BII. This was namely for the fact that it only had to provide oxygen to only one entity instead of an entire space station.

"Bro!" Luigi called, "The transporters are online, and the Mushroom Kingdom carrier has docked on external bay 31!"

"Thanks, L," Mario turned to face his brother, "Go work the transporter room, get those guys up here!"

"Sure thing, Bro!" Luigi ran off down the hall towards the transporter room. Mario looked back at him, until he was out of sight, and then turned back to his guests.

"Anyway, the Mushroom Kingdom group is about to arrive, I'd say our guests from Altea and Elibe will be the next to arrive."

"Altea?" Link asked.

"Elibe?" Zelda wondered.

"Your friend Marth is the prince of Altea, and Roy is the son of Marquess Eliwood Pherae, one of the kingdoms in Lycia, a territory in the continent of Elibe. I've recruited a few more people from that general area to assist you, but I don't think that they'll be arriving for a while.

"Anyway, those who have their own ships will arrive as soon as they can, so I can't tell you when they'll arrive. They might come in two minutes, or two hours, I'm not sure."

"Hey! Mario!" A girlish voice called as the door behind the chair Mario was in slid open. Five people, counting reptiles and other mammals walked through the door.

"Ah… Peach! It's-a good to see you again!" Mario walked over to Princess Peach Toadstool and shook her hand vigorously. She giggled and kissed Mario's bulbous nose, causing the plumber to blush.

"Gwa-ha-ha!" The evil King Bowser Koopa laughed in his deep baritone voice, "I'm lookin' forward to whooping your fat ass, Mario! Any time, any place!"

"Garoo! Heya, Mario!" The gargantuan, burly ape Donkey Kong greeted pumping both arms into the air. "It's been a while, so I hope there aren't any hard feelings from last time, huh?"

Mario smiled, "None at all, big fella! It's-a good to see ya!"

"Hiyahiyahiya Mario! I'm glad you and the big guy are friends again!" The smaller, more hyperactive chimp, Diddy Kong squeaked.

"Diddy!" the Italian plumber exclaimed, "Man, I almost didn't recognize you! You've gotten a lot bigger!"

"Yeah, I've gotten a lot stronger too! Just wait and see! Just wait and see! Gwooo!"

"Yoshi! Ya-hooooshi! Hi there, Mario!" the mid-ranged voice of a bipedal green reptile cut through the commotion as Yoshi trotted up to his heroic companion. His verdant scales, the scarlet pad on his back, and the yellow soles of his boots seemed as vibrant and cheerful as the lizard himself.

"Hey, it's my little dino friend, Yoshi! It's-a nice to have you by my side again," Mario gave Yoshi a juicy red apple, which he gulped down in an instant.

"Mm! Thanks, Mario, I'll give you ride anytime! Just ask!"

Luigi walked into the room once more, this time he was carrying a large pear. He walked over to Yoshi and presented the fruit, which he devoured ferociously.

"Well, Bro, the next shuttle has arrived, it's carrying five more fighters, this time from the land of Altea, and League of Lycia!" He bowed as the five from the Mushroom Kingdom took their seats, and the next group arrived.

"Hmph. This place looks a lot cleaner than that old mansion that you had us in last time," the blue-haired prince of Altea remarked. "Oh, it seems that we have a new member already!" Noticing Diddy, the man bows, his light armor clinking quietly as he kneeled to Allow me to introduce myself, sir chimpanzee, my name is Marth, I am the heir to the Altean throne."

"Hi, sir! My name's Diddy, Diddy Kong!"

"It is an honor to meet you, my pre-evolved acquaintance," Marth responded politely, but frowned momentarily. "Not sir. I'm not a knight. Your Highness should do fine, er, 'Diddy'."

"Oh come on, dude, lighten up a bit! You don't have to be so dang formal all the time!" The teenage son of Lord Eliwood Pherae entered the room. Marth rolled his eyes at his acquaintance's attitude, it was unbefitting for one of noble birth.

"Hey all o' you! The name's Roy, little chimp, you'll know me by the time this is all over!" Diddy looked towards the larger ape and let out a burst of mirth, both of them gasping for air once they were done laughing. Roy looked on at the scene in puzzlement, his blue-gold armor drooping along with his expression.

"Roy…" His father, Lord Eliwood, entered the room, shaking his head in amused disapproval. "Please try to be a bit more polite with people you don't know."

"Oh dad, you know that I've seen most of these guys before, the only new guy is that little monkey over there!"

Eliwood just laughed at his son's casual attitude and took his seat along with the rest of them. The table seemed to grow larger as more people were seated at it; with new seats appearing as if by magic when there were no more.

Luigi entered the council chamber once more, heralding new arrivals. "Great! People are-a really staring to arrive now!" the green brother noted, grinning. "Now, here come some special guests from the Kanto region!" As the man in green, Luigi, left the room, three strange creatures and one human entered the council hall.

"Pika, pikachu!" A yellow mouse exclaimed.

"_Jiiig! Jiggly-PUFF!_" A pink puffball that somewhat resembled Kirby told them.

"Uh… what?" Diddy asked lamely, taking off his red baseball cap and scratching his head.

"They're pokemon," the human said, he wore a red hat and a red vest with a black, short-sleeve undershirt. On his legs were a pair of blue jeans, and on his back was a yellow backpack emblazoned with the pokeball symbol. "They can only say their names, it's a genetic trait."

"Interesting," Zelda said. "You know, I'll bet that I can cast a spell that'll allow you to understand the way these creatures talk! It could take a little while, though," she mumbled. "I'll have to read about it first."

"Hmph… you pathetic humans are all alike. Tampering with nature to benefit yourselves… how typical," this came from a strange grey pokemon, using psychic powers to communicate with the other humans.

"You should know me, but if you are too ignorant to remember, I am Mewtwo an incredibly powerful pokemon of the psychic type. More powerful than any of you, at least. I, however, dislike you bundle myself in the category of 'pokemon'. I find it demeaning. Those who defy me shall be destroyed, and any humans who cross me shall feel my wrath."

"Name's Matthew," the human greeted, waving his hand, "I'm a great pokemon trainer. I use these three in all my battles, they're Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle. I've beaten the Elite Four and Champion of all four Pokemon Leagues. I'm the best there is!"

"Hey! Bro!" Luigi came barreling into the room. "Four vessels have just docked! One looks like a big ol' battleship, and the other three seem to be Arwings, two of 'em have been modified a bit!"

"Hmm… Mario said to himself, "That should be those foxes, and Falco. But that battleship… Ah! Meta Knight is taking the Halberd, so that'll be him."

"Oh, also, a Warpstar has docked in bay 64. I believe that it's Kirby's vehicle of choice, so be prepared for five more guests." Luigi left the council chamber one more time to return to the main controls.

After about three minutes of light conversation, an animal in a bluish-gray flight suit entered the council hall. It was a heavily modified version of the suit that she had worn during the time between the Aparoid Wars and the Anglar Oppression. There was a mask covering much of her face, enough that only her eyes were showing. No fur showed on any of her body, not on her hands, face, or legs.

She had a handgun at her belt, though her weapon of choice was the PSYCHO, the Physical-Spatial Yin Cannon with HyperOptic modifiers. In other words, it was a blaster that formed around its user's hand. It fires bolts of energy that can hit foes that have phased out of physical existence, such as ghosts, phantoms, and objects travelling through a hyperspace channel, if she was precise enough. It is typically used by Kursed, as she is often viewed as a dark, brooding creature. It's shots could not be seen on the normal spectrum, due to its Hyperoptic modifiers.

She walked up to Mario without introducing herself, and whispered, "Tell anyone of my true identity while I'm around and I'll see to it that your funeral is arranged prematurely. Got that?" Without waiting for an answer, she stalked off towards her chair; it was between Samus and another empty seat.

A few moments of awkward silence existed between them, each growing somewhat uncomfortable, despite their passive exteriors. A few minutes passed, apparently Kirby, Fox, Falco, and Meta Knight had either a run in while they were walking through the corridors, or they had gotten lost.

Samus coughed, "Erm… My name's Samus Aran, I'm a bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. You are…?"

"The name's Kursed. I'm a gun for fire, give me enough money and I can do anything. That enough of an introduction for you?"

The Hunter laughed to herself; she had turned her armorsuit's speakers off for just a moment while she expressed her mirth. "Well, I suppose we're a bit alike I suppose, both girls, out in space to make a few credits."

"Not quite," the fox said, "You're not an enemy of your planet."

"I don't have a planet," Samus informed, "I was born on the Space Colony of K-2L, where we harvested Afloraltite. One day, pirates attacked, trying to get that incredible power source. But… my father, he went in his fighter and destroyed the Afloraltite, however, it's a very volatile substance… the resulting explosion… well… it destroyed the entire colony, the only people left on it were myself, and the pirate's leader, Ridley.

"I was only three years old at the time, the space dragon Ridley would've killed me then and there, had the Chozo not found me, saved me, and took me to their colony on the toxic planet of Zebes. The bird-like aliens saved me, and trained me in combat. This Varia Suit," she pointed at her armor, "is of Chozo origin. It's saved my life many times."

"We're still so different, Samus Aran. Have you ever lost the man you loved?" Kursed asked. "It was him that caused me to be a mercenary, a bounty hunter, if you wish."

"…"

"Samus?"

"… Yes… yes I have…" She answered slowly. "He was my CO a long time ago, back when I was in the Federation Police. His name was Adam Malkovitch, and he saved me from a Space Pirate ambush. His bravery… cost him his life.

"Like I said, I was serving under the Galactic Federation, but after the death of Adam… I've been a bounty hunter. The best of the best… next to him."

It seemed as though Kursed was about to say something, but at that moment, two others entered the room.

"Man, Fox, it's really great to see you again, where have you been?" Falco asked as they walked through the door.

"Just drifting," Fox replied, "well, that and… wait, here we are!"

"Hm?" Falco looked at everyone else, "Well whaddaya know! Looks like almost everyone's here already!"

"Say," Kursed asked Samus, "Who just came in? I can't see too well from here."

"Oh, it's just that Fox and his featherbrained friend. You know the guys?"

"…"

"Kursed?"

"A little," she answered curtly.

Fox sat across from Samus, and Falco lounged next to him, putting his feet up on the table, wings behind his head. "So, Fox, have you gotten any news from the rest of the team?"

"Not at all," he muttered sadly. "I was hoping that you might have some idea where they are."

"Well, I know that Slippy's on Aquas, probably with his fiancée, Amanda. And I'm pretty sure that good ol' Peppy's back on Corneria, living out the rest of his days in peace. I… haven't heard anything about Krystal, though. Sorry if I couldn't be a bit more helpful, Fox," Falco concluded.

"Eh, it's not a problem." Fox sighs. "Nothing I didn't already know, though," he mumbles dismally.

Just then, the main doors slid open once more, and conversation temporarily ceased. In walked three short figures, one was a human boy named Ness. His psychic powers were strong enough to rival Mewtwo's and his attire was tacky enough to rival even the most generic kid from the '50s. The other two were knights, Kirby, a Warpstar Knight, and Meta Knight, the leader of the team the… Meta-Knights… They weren't enemies, per se, though they are definitely rivals. This time, however, things were different, Meta Knight was tense, and his eyes darted back and forth, taking in everything he could about the SSB-BII.

"Hey, Kirby," Ness said, "Thanks a lot for letting me ride with you, it was really nice of you!"

"Poyo!" Kirby responded cheerfully.

"Alright, Bro!" Luigi entered the council chamber one last time. "We're getting our final arrivals, seems like someone just teleported inside the station, one just seemed to appear, you should know him, one arrived in a small, one man fighter, and the other two arrived by shuttle. Oh, and one arrived in a cruiser identified as the Falcon Flyer. If you don't mind, I'll just wait here, now that everyone's finally getting here!"

"Sure thing, Luigi," his brother replied before a flash of golden light appeared in the council room.

"Hmph. Finally. This place deserves to die for confusing me like that…"

"What the!?" Link shouted, drawing his blade from the scabbard at his back. "Ganondorf! W-what are you doing here?"

"Ah… so the kid and the princess are here too, how nice. I look forward to destroying you this time. Have some down time to get all ready, I'll face you then," the Great King of Evil laughed uproariously.

"No, no… I mean… you're alive?"

"The Sacred Realm works in strange ways, kid."

But before the Gerudo could explain more, the doors slid open and let in Nana and Popo, the two Ice Climbers, the mysterious Mr. Game & Watch, and Captain Falcon.

"Wow, we finally found this place!" Popo said.

"It looks really _cool!_" Nana followed, and they both burst into laughter.

"Beep?" G&W looked at the two as best he could, since he's actually a two-dimensional object.

Before anyone could laugh at the strange, 2-D creature, Mr. Game & Watch, a blue blur sped through the door. "Yeah! Sonic's here, and no one's gonna beat me and my amazing speed! Not even you Mario!"

"We'll-a see about that," Mario nodded slyly.

"Ha! Yah! Hiyah! Don't worry, all o' you! The super awesome Captain Falcon is here! Ha! Hoo! Ha! You'll all be blown away by my pwnage fightin' skills, watch and be amazed!" Falcon began punching air in a fashion befitting his over-the-top attitude.

"Oh crap…" Samus groaned. "It's _him_." After a few more seconds of the ordeal, Samus deemed it necessary to hit him in the gut with a missile. He seemed to recover instantaneously, though he stopped 'showing off his pwnage fightin' skills'.

The door opened one final time, letting in the figure of…

"Wolf!" Fox stood up.

"Wolf!" Falco flipped through the air onto the table, and pulled out his blaster while he was in midair.

"Wolf...?" Kursed stood looking at all three of her former teammates.

"Wait, that… that voice…" Fox muttered. Kursed inconspicuously sat back down.

"What is it Fox?" Falco asked, his blaster still pointed at their rival.

"Nothing," he said, looking around. "Nothing at all."

"Fox," Wolf snarled, "I didn't come all the way across the galaxy to fight with you. I came here for the 20,000 credits I was promised. By the looks of it, a lot of people were promised a hefty wad of dough. But that's no object to me, let's get to it!"

"Well… we're-a all here!" Mario said.

"Then let's-a go, Bro!"

"Wait!" A voice called.

"What…?" Everyone turned towards the door.

"Wa-ha-ha! Here's… WAAAAAAARRRRIIIIOOOOOO!!"


	9. The Briefing

Brave: True, I did say that not everyone from Brawl will be in. I know for a fact that Lucas will not be making an appearance, and I don't think I know enough about their respective franchises for either Snake or Capt. Olimar to make an appearance. King Dedede is still up in the air. Sorry Snake, Lucas, and Olimar fans!

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter VIII: The Briefing

"W-Wario!?" Luigi cried. "Who invited him?!"

"Me, that's who," A young girl stepped from behind him. She was in a long red dress, and two enormous pigtails sprouted from her head of black hair. In her hand was a small, jeweled wand.

"Grmm… Ashley!" Mario growled.

"Yep! Orbulon's ship caught a message of yours sent to some part of the galaxy, so I gave it to Wario, and invited him! Isn't that great?"

"No… it really isn't," Mario grumbled. "Can't that fat pig keep his mustache out of my business?"

"Hey! That's my line!" Bowser shouted from a few feet away. A few turned to stare at him, the overlarge koopa coughed sheepishly, and turned back towards Wario.

"Guh!" Wario scoffed, flexing his considerably large muscles. "You're gonna let me be in this big shot tourny o' yours and you're gonna like it! Wa-ha-ha!"

Ashley waved her wand threateningly, which was actually her impish companion, Red, transformed into the shape of a rod. "You'd better let 'im in, guys," She snickered, still brandishing Red.

Mario glared at Wario, and sighed reluctantly, "Ugh… fine. You're in, you big blowhard. I guess it'll be-a fun to see you lose to Bowser, of all people."

"Hey! Are you dissin' my power, redcap?!" Wario and Bowser shouted in unison, much to the amusement of the congregation. Samus, Kursed, Meta Knight, Ganondorf, and the two antagonists in question were the only ones in the room that stayed silent.

"Well…" The plumber in red said to Wario, "now that you're-a in, you can go and tell your cronies to shove off!"

"No, I believe that would be discourteous, Master Mario," the prince of Altea said. "You see, the craft that your friend here arrived in is piloted by his extraterrestrial companion. His name is Orbulon, correct?"

"He's right, bro," Luigi agreed. "If we send Wario's group away, he'll be stranded here on the SSB-BII!"

Mario sighed, "And that would not be good… at all," He could imagine what it would be like having his strange 'evil twin' of sorts stay for just a little while. Mario couldn't stand the thought of what would happen should he be stranded on the Smash Station almost indefinitely!

"Mama mia… fine… I suppose you three can-a stay. Just don't get into any trouble!"

"Oh, don't worry!" Ashley laughed. "We wouldn't dream of getting into trouble here," she said, trying to look innocent, but failing due to her burst of maniacal laughter that followed it. "Heh… uh… I gotta go!" She waved her wand and zipped somewhere else in the station.

"Wa-ha-ha! So, now I'm in! I'm gonna kick your sorry behinds, got that? No one ever loses to the great Wario!"

"We'll-a see 'bout that," Mario gave him a small smile. He turned towards his brother, the man in green. Luigi understood the look, and ran out of the room, and a moment later, a large screen slid down from the front of the room.

"Now listen up, ev-a-rybody," the iconic plumber announced, "listen and-a listen good, okay?" A general murmur of consent passed through the crowd, followed by a stretch of silence.

"All right, that's-a better. Luigi! The screen, if you will."

"Sure thing, bro!" The ever-present understudy gave the 'OK' sign to his brother from a booth opposite the screen behind Mario. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Now," Mario continued, "I've-a brought you all here because of an increasingly imminent threat to our respective worlds. This is caused by a combination of the other conflicts that endanger our universe, such as the war between the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation!" The screen showed multiple capital ships being blown apart by huge bolts of plasma. Samus shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and began fiddling with her suit's power intake.

"Another example would be the animosity between the citizens of Dreamland and the notorious King Dedede!" The pink puffball, Kirby, deflated somewhat. Meta Knight noticed the change, and cast a glance towards his pupil, and rival.

"You, Bowser, Ganondorf!" Mario pointed to both villains in turn. "You're strife with the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule respectively has also added misery to this matter!" The screen displayed both Bowser and the King of Evil stealing the Princess Peach, and Princess Zelda.

"GWA! MARIO!" the King Koopa roared. "I wouldn't've had to add to it if you'd just hand over Peach!" He pointed a clawed finger towards the Mushroom Kingdom's princess.

"Now, Bowser… let's not start this again…" Mario groaned, bowing his head and concealing it in the palm of his hand. "You know this'll get us nowhere…"

"Yo, turtle!" Roy stood up from his chair. "Why is it that you have to go stealin' those girls and all, dude? I mean, nothing wrong with stealin' girls or anything," the Pheraen Marquess-in-training asked. "But seriously, don't you think you should lighten up a bit? Why do go runnin' off with that Princess Peach?"

"Uhh…" Bowser faltered, caught off guard by this question.

"Pah," Ganondorf stood and turned his back on the group, peering over his shoulder as he spoke. "At least _I_ have a reason for kidnapping _this_ princess," he pointed towards Zelda. "_She_ houses the Triforce of Wisdom inside her quintessence. I hold her captive as a prize, power, as well as bait. She is essential to plans, unlike you, beast." He sneered in the general direction of Bowser.

"Why you…" The koopa growled.

"Yeah! A fight!" Captain Falcon exclaimed. "I've been itchin' for one o' those!" He dashed over and punched Ganondorf in the jaw!

"So… you really want a fight… do you…? Ganondorf put his hand to his bleeding mouth. "Then come get it! I am invincible to all but the legendary hero!"

"Guess that's my cue," Link said, jumping into the fray.

"Link! You idiot!" Zelda yelled, jumping in after him. Badly for her, she was hit by one of Bowser's slashes, and she retaliated by sending a blast of flame into his snout!

"GRAH! You're gonna pay for that one, missy!"

"Hey!" Roy shouted. "You're not gonna hit a girl on my watch!" The young prince leaped towards Bowser, bringing his legendary blade, the Sword of Seals, onto the shell of the koopa. The magic inside the blade explodes in a fiery blast upon impact.

"Nice work Roy!" Peach shouted from the table. "Way to help out Zelda, I'm coming to help !" Peach somersaulted under the table and punched the King Koopa from beneath.

"No! No! Everybody!" Mario shouted. "This isn't helping! This is causing more fighting, unless it's a controlled fight, then it's not good! The more people are fighting each other, the more likely it is someone will break the rules!"

At the mention of 'break the rules', Meta Knight turned to face Mario. His eyes narrowed, suddenly suspicious.

"Heh, any fight is good for me, red," Wolf snickered, and shot at Fox.

"What the-? Wolf!" He cried, and returned fire! Falco caught sight of this, and removed a Homing Launcher from … somewhere… and shot a slug towards their gray-haired foe.

"Urk… Go down, Fox!" the grey dog screamed, removing a plasma grenade from his belt.

By this time, everyone had joined the fighting, save Marth, who was too proper to attack due to mob psychology, and Mewtwo, who was conserving his energy. Cries of 'Bullet seed!' 'Pika!' 'Hah! Dodge that one!' 'Cheater!' and 'Yow! Cheap shot!' could be heard over the sounds of the cruel melee.

"Hmph…" Mewtwo groaned. "Will you accursed humans stop this i_FIGHTING!?/i_" When the psychic pokemon yelled 'fighting' he raised both of his three-fingered hands skyward, and stared through the center of the scrap. Both hands were illuminated by a smoky, purple glow, and soon afterwards, so was everyone else. They were suspended in time, and slowly raised into the air.

"Much better..." Mewtwo sneered, at let dropped his psychic grip. "I hate to admit it… but the human in red is right… this conflict will resolve nothing! Save your strength for when you fight the oncoming forces of darkness…"

Meta Knight slipped under the table, which had miraculously survived the brawl. "Master… the time is now. They have just fought against each other, this is the perfect time for a seeding!" He whispered these words into a small device underneath his glove. The appliance vaguely resembled a wristwatch.

"Very well, my spy, where should I send it?"

"Try… Hyrule. The station is orbiting away from the kingdom; they'll have a harder time reaching it if they notice. Best of luck to you, my lord, Meta Knight out," the knight ended the transmission abruptly as Kirby walked towards him.

"Hello, my pupil. It's… good to see you again. Have you practiced in the way of the sword recently?"

"Poy. Not really, Knight," The pinkish creature responded. "Though, I have gotten a lot better at fighting these guys, I'm actually doing pretty well!"

"Hmm… that's good to hear. I simply cannot wait to face you on the battlefield. Always keep your guard about you, Kirby." The spherical warrior nodded as best as he could, and stalked off. The cryptic comments of Meta Knight always left Kirby at a loss for words, their true meanings often becoming clear much later. This time was no exception, and the pink puff of a Smasher walked away rather confused.

"Ugh… thank-a you for stopping…" Mario shook his head in befuddlement. "Why are you two so high-strung?"

"HIGH-STRUNG?! ME?!" Bowser howled.

"Calling me high-strung, are you?" Ganondorf arched an eyebrow.

"Uhh…" Mario faltered. "No, that's not what I was saying at all, why don't you two just sit down."

The two shrugged and returned to their seats, which had righted themselves during the break in the fighting

Marth had remained stoically in his seat, more or less ignoring the conflict that had raged around him. "Please, Sir Mario," The prince implored, "would you please continue your lecture?"

"Of course, Marth," the red-suited plumber smiled. "This station is equipped with a large sensor array, we use it to prevent threats to our planet. Recently, we-a discovered strange readings coming from a far-off location, probably in another system.

"From what we can understand, my brother and I have-a discovered that these readings are coming from a production device. This is not an ordinary factory, however, as it seems to be producing soldiers!"

A murmur of bemusement rippled through his audience, breaking the silent atmosphere.

"People, please!" Mario cried, hands in the air. "This matter is-a of the utmost importance!" The crowd slowly settled, though a faint undercurrent of conversation still remained.

"Thank you, anyway, as I was-a saying, this device is producing soldiers. The issue is… we can't access this place. Even if we could, the beings that it produces are strange, formless beings. From the data that Luigi and I have deciphered, they are called 'Primids'."

Meta Knight shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his yellow eyes were darting back and forth nervously.

"These 'Primids' are constructed specifically for undying obedience to their maker. The are vaguely purple, but with … well… it-a looks like they have a bucket on their head!"

"Wha?!" Donkey Kong asked incredulously.

"Dude, what!?" Roy called.

"I've faced weirder," Fox shrugged.

"How interesting. This could prove to be a difficult task," Marth responded calmly.

"Ha!" Link laughed. "They wear buckets on their heads! They're pushovers!"

Mario cleared his throat, and began pacing around the room, away from the screen, which was displaying a fuzzy image of a Primid. "In addition to these 'Primids' we've-a gotten blurry images of their other forces, though no names were mentioned. The best image I managed to retrieve, I still couldn't make out what the picture was. It was a large battleship, I feel I've-a seen it before, but I just can't place it!"

The spy was getting nervous now, and his wings were poking out of his cape ever so slightly.

"I must inquire," Meta Knight asked, "how you are sure that these creatures are our enemies? They seem rather harmless to me, or rather, not going to attack us."

Mario turned to face the speaker, and arched his left eyebrow. "I… never said that they were our enemies…" His brow furrowed slightly, and the plumber turned away.

"Anyway, we can't get to this place to disable it, as it most certainly a threat. The reason why we cannot access this strange factory is that it is hidden in a bizarre shroud known as 'Subspace'. It will assimilate anyone caught in it, so unless we can somehow negate the effects of the 'Subspace' we-a can't enter the production yard!"

The crowed spoke amongst themselves, brainstorming or just letting out what they had just heard.

"So, Zelda," Link asked, "what do you think of this?"

"It is… certainly a disturbing turn of events," The princess sighed. "If what we have heard is true, then we have little chance of prevailing here."

Kursed's voice modifier had been running since she had entered the station. She had recovered data files connecting Fox McCloud to Super Smash Brothers since it's foundation, and was positive that he would be joining them this time. To prepare, she had reactivated her vocal distortion relay, so that Team Star Fox's former leader wouldn't recognize her accent.

"So… Samus, was it?" She asked, the distorter caused Kursed's voice to shift down about half an octave, as well as causing a slight reverb effect. "What do you think of this complication? I came here to face off against all of them," she waved her arm across the room, "not to fight some sort of war. But it doesn't matter much to me, if I'm getting paid, everything will be fine.

"You have a point," Samus replied, "but, if this has anything to do with the Space Pirates, I'm fine with it. But, yes, we are getting paid, so I'm good no matter what.

"By the way," the space hunter inquired, "what part of space are you local to?"

"None of it. However, my jobs are usually based in the Lylat System," She narrowed her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"I like to know who my friends are… and who my enemies are," She replied cryptically. As the bounty hunter walked towards another portion of the room, she slid open a panel on her arm cannon, and typed a short phrase.

_Initiate background check on Kursed, resident of the Lylat System._

Samus closed the panel and let the Chozo Armorsuit's computer process the information as she returned to her seat.

"So, Ivysaur," Matthew, the pokemon trainer asked, "what do you think'll come of this?"

"Saur! Ivysaur!" The grass-type answered faithfully.

"CHAAR!" the orange fire-type, Charizard, roared, spewing a jet of fire towards the ceiling. The trainer looked towards his Squirtle, a little blue pokemon that resembled a turtle.

"Tull," the water-type nodded. "Squirtle, squir…tull."

"Well, Falco," the bird's companion, Fox McCloud grinned, "looks like we'll get to fly those Arwings one more time. It's been a while since we've flown as a team, hasn't it?"

"Sure has, Fox. Just try not to shoot my hull too much this time," the humanoid bird smirked.

"Ahem!" Mario was tapping against his little plinth. "You all seem to be-a getting the wrong idea from this!" At this, all heads turned towards Mario in a mixture of confusion and anticipation.

"Yes, I-a wasn't intending for you to get the idea that we were going to try and destroy the factory! Not at all! Instead, I noticed an ion trail leading from the factory towards the planet we're orbiting, Tednonin, home to many of you. The readings that we gained after scanning the trail imply that it was left by a fairly large battleship!"

Meta Knight raised his hand.

"Yes, Meta Knight?" the Italian plumber asked.

"Er… may I depart for the restroom?" the masked Dreamlander's eyes shifted in mock-sheepishness. In truth, he was just trying to minimize the chance of his cover being blown by not allowing anyone to see through his poker face.

"Umm… of course… Meta Knight… It's down the hall and the third left…" Mario said slowly, the question felt extremely awkward.

"Thank you." The short, winged creature walked off in the direction of the corridor.

"Um… moving on…" Mario continued. "I think that I have found a great threat to the planet Tednonin, if not our entire galaxy. I stationed us here so that we can watch for any incoming danger. Everyone needs to be on their guard!"

"You have a point, human," Mewtwo rasped. "We must be vigilant or…" The psychic pokemon's normally purple eyes blinked and shifted to orange.

"Or… or… AGH!" Mewtwo fell to the floor, both of his three-fingered hands were clutching at his temples. "Ugh… something… there's… something alive… out there… It's power… overwhelming me…"

"Mewtwo!" Mario cried.

"Mama miaaaaaaaaaa!" Luigi jumped through the glass of the control booth as an explosion detonated from behind him. "Waaaahaaahaaa! Something-a blew up!"

Kursed squinted her eyes tightly together, biting her lip in pain. She was a telepath after all, her abilities helped save planet Sauria from assimilation by the Aparoids once. "I believe…" She groaned, "that Mewtwo is correct. My… er… sensors… are picking something large up from space. It seems to have sentience… I don't know exactly… what it is…"

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Samus' computer was going nuts from whatever was going on outside, and she quickly opened the panel.

"_Two items of research detected. Scans have been given. One match." _The Varia Suit's computer buzzed.

"Give me the familiar scan first, computer," Samus said urgently.

"_Item outside is thirteen kilometers long by four kilometers wide. It is heading at ninety six kilometers per second at planet Tednonin. Point of impact, Hyrule; subsection; Hyrule Castle."_

Zelda gasped, Link swore loudly.

"_The object in question has partial sentience, while there is, in addition, another sentient being encased in the object. The object is mainly comprised of stone, though of what type is unknown. Markings indicate that it is of natural origin, but jettisoned of artificial origin. _

"_This object is compound of the following materials: sixty two percent stone, twenty eight percent metal; unknown origin, and ten percent... KXXTH!_"

"Computer!?" Samus called angrily.

_"Kkxx… and ten percent... Phazon._


	10. The Chemical Dagger

Super Smash Brothers: Return

Chapter IX: The Chemical Dagger

"Ph-Phazon?!" Luigi exclaimed. "Wha-what's that? It sounds so scary!"

Samus sighed and clapped her hand to her helmet. "Phazon is a radioactive material and mutagen. That scary enough for you?"

"Y-Yes…" Mario's brother whimpered.

"This… this Phazon…" Mewtwo groaned, "it appears to have sentience. Its power is… overwhelming me… I cannot give you any help. But this gives you an ample opportunity to prove yourselves. Show me what you humans can now do… it will give me a chance to evaluate you for a later time…"

"Excuse me?!" Link cried. "My land is at risk and all you care about is seeing how well we can fight? That's pathetic, even from you!"

"Link!" Fox chastised, "We don't have the time for fighting with each other. I'll get to my Arwing, everyone else should find some way to get to the surface in case this somehow goes wrong!"

Samus shook her head and stepped towards the doors. She pressed a few buttons on her cannon, readying her gunship. "That won't work," She said, turning back towards the tawny fox. "If the meteor hits, then everyone down on the entire planet will either die or succumb to Phazon corruption. However…" She trailed off.

"However…?" Zelda prompted.

"Back on Planet Aether… the meteor hit with such force… it split the world into two halves. A Light World, where the Luminoth, the native race lived, and a Dark World, where the vicious Ing ravaged the landscape."

"A… Dark World…" Link said quietly. "The meteor… it hit with such force that it split a barrier between the worlds…" He glanced towards Zelda, who seemed to be thinking likewise.

_Warning! Warning! Hazardous object approaching Planet Tednonin at high velocities!_ The SSB-BII's main computer blared redundantly. It seemed as though Mewtwo's psychic powers were more advanced than the Smash Station's scanners.

_Object speeding at over two thousand kilometers per hour at the Hyrule Region of Tednonin. Another vessel has been sighted near it. The new arrival may impact into the incoming object. Do you wish to hail?_

"Yes, thank you," Mario said to the computer, and pressed a nondescript button on the control panel near him. This activated the communications network, and opened a channel between the SSB-BII and the other craft.

"This is Mario, of the Mushroom Kingdom, please identify yourselves!"

_KCXT! "Well, Mario, you certainly have no need to introduce yourself! We know quite well who you are. This is Captain Andrew of the NOAS NSider. It's a pleasure to meet you at last, should I send a shuttle so that I may board?_

"I'm afraid not," Samus stepped up towards the viewscreen. "If you haven't noticed, there's a very large meteor headed towards the planet. It would be… unwise… to make a move towards us. The meteor contains a large amount of Phazon, it could be inconvenient for you if your vessel were in the way."

_"Hmm…"_ Andrew paused for a moment._ "I see. Huh… very well. I apologize I couldn't meet any of you in person, but this seems more important. I must move away from this threat, but, uh… here, I'll send you a visual of our humble craft in the event that you see us again. Andrew out."_ The face of Captain Andrew faded out and was replaced with a visual of the NOAS NSider.

The craft looked vaguely like an oversized sea star, with many more legs than it should have. In its center was the main pod, emblazoned with a large capital 'N', the pod bore several large crevasses that glowed a bright blue every thirty seconds. A total of ten 'arms' extended from the center of the vessel, each one contained a section of the ship, from the mess hall to the quarters to the General Discussion deck.

The image of the NOAS NSider flickered off-screen, and was replaced by the head of Captain Andrew once more. _"Alright, we're going to activate our hyperdrive soon, I'll see you around, Mario!"_

"Sure thing, Captain!" Mario and his brother, Luigi, answered in unison.

_"Hey! Andy!"_ A technician called from behind the captain.

_"Hmm? What is it, Bullion?"_ the captain responded.

_"There's something wrong with our hyperspace drive! It's not functioning correctly!"_

"_What?"_ Andrew exclaimed. _"Are you positive, Bullion?"_

"_Quite positive, sir! And with that meteor coming our way, we'll have to make serious evasive action if we want to get out of the way!_

"_Urgh… This isn't good… Do you have any idea of why the hyperspace drive gave way?"_

"_Yes sir, indeed I do! It appears that the radiation from this asteroid has knocked it out!"_

_BEEP! BEEP! WARNING! Nearby meteor is accelerating! It appears that it contains an unknown material that initiates a form of internal combustion power that increases its speed. New approximate time until impact: eight minutes. _

"What!?" Mario exclaimed. "Then by the looks of it…"

_"I agree… Mario,"_ the NOAS NSider's captain said grimly. _"The meteor will collide with the NSider. I'm afraid our only option is to jettison our crew; we've got to get them out of here. I'll activate the escape pods, the other pods will probably make it to Tednonin after the meteor hits it._

"_I'm going to make my final act for this planet, if the meteor will indeed strike it, I'll attempt to lessen the blow. Using a great amount of Sterile Primary Acid Matter, or SPAM energy, gathered on this ship, we'll activate a ray that should at least soften the blow of this meteor. This is Andrew, signing off." _The viewscreen turned to static as the face of Andrew disappeared from view.

"Wait, dudes, I'm confused," Roy said. "What's that guy gonna do?"

Samus groaned again, "He said that he'd try to use a great amount of SPAM energy to try and destroy the meteor. Unfortunately, I don't think that the SPAM Cannon will do much against a Phazon-infused hunk of speeding rock. It may take a bit off it, but it'll still destroy much of his ship. I'm not sure if it will impact into Hyrule, however."

Meta Knight had reentered the room shortly before Captain Andrew had been contacted. Thus, he had overheard the entire conversation.

_"If that ship gets in the way," _the Subspace Emissary thought to himself,_ "Then it could ruin the entire operation. Still, I can't think of a plan… I suppose I shall just have to see how things turn out… blast. I hate not being in control."_

* * *

The command deck of the NOAS NSider was filling up with crewmembers awaiting their chance to escape the exploratory vessel from its certain doom. The escape pods were directly attached to the main bridge, which, in hindsight, might have been a bad idea. It did, however, give the NSiders a splendid view of the Phazon Meteor, (which would later be named a 'Leviathan' by the Galactic Federation), that would plow into the craft, and later, Tednonin.

Four men entered the bridge, with a fifth far ahead, leading a smaller crowd behind him. The fourth man was dressed in mainly black, as well as a hint of gray. Attached to his upper abdomen was a small, red pin. It was shaped to resemble the Hylian Royal Crest.

The four much farther behind him were close companions, and a fifth, a girl, soon joined them. The first man was wearing a suit of ebon armor with a golden trim on the upper half. His helmet had been removed earlier, revealing his face, which was softly angled, and had a somewhat untidy mop of black hair crowning his head. His name was Joe the Brave.

To his right was a close friend of his, his hair was a light golden-brown and he wore a flightsuit the color of a burning sycamore. The brown intermingled with the red quite nicely. He wore a golden sword on his back, though it was mainly for looks, as a laser pistol dangled from his hip. The man in question was Tyrminus Czarny, he had known Joe the Brave for a great deal of time.

To the left of the first man was another boy with purple hair and a deep red headband that kept it from falling into his eyes. He had a rapier on his back that crackled with electrical energy, which was his weapon of choice, should he fall under attack. He garbed himself in a tunic the color of his hair, and a cape, which resembled the wood of the mahogany tree. This man was named Narkloth.

Between and behind Narkloth and Joe the Brave was the fourth man, who seemed to blend in with the shadows of the ship. His cloak was a deep and ghostly black, with red highlights every so often down the length of the robe. His face was obscured by a hood that sprouted from the back of his cloak. If you've followed with the escapades of Joe the Brave since the original NSider, then you should know the identity of this Hooded Man. His name was actually unknown, though a sobriquet had been fashioned for his use. He was known as Shadow.

The girl who had recently run up behind the four was dressed in a white robe with black highlights around the shoulders and waist. She had a large amount of raven hair that flowed down her back to around her waist. The hair seemed to blend in with the highlights around her pelvis. Her name was Somatomay, or Soma, for short.

"So…" Narkloth said haltingly, "what's the news from the top?"

"Hmph," Tyrminus grumbled.

Joe the Brave arched an eyebrow at Tyrminus, and proceeded to enlighten the group of the events. As they talked, they slowly made their way up towards the viewport, the giant Leviathan blazing towards them.

"Well… by the looks of things…" The armored man looked towards the meteor. "I'd say we're evacuating the station."

"I can't see how you'd think that…" the man with the gilded sword grumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Now's not the time for this…" Shadow hissed, barely taking notice of Sir Czarny.

"I'm glad to see that you're having fun," Narkloth said softly, "but we honestly need to get off this place. It's going to be a ball of fire in a few minutes."

"The escape pods are waiting, are you ready?" Joe the Brave asked tentatively.

"Of course. Anyone know how we're going to destroy this thing?" Tyrminus looked about.

"Well…" Shadow hissed, "I'd say there's a large amount of SPAM being loaded into the main firing chamber. Seems like they're going to dump all power to there, and get us off this wreck."

"Are you sure there's no way we can stay and help?" Joe asked bravely.

"I'm sure," Shadow replied grimly. "This place will be dead soon. There's no point in trying to postpone the inevitable. We have to get out or we're doomed. Make your choice."

Everyone sighed, followed by Narkloth remarking, "I just hope Echoes will get out okay… It would make things a great deal less interesting if he doesn't find his way back."

"I hear you, but we're going to have to take different pods, sadly," Joe the Brave said sadly. "Shadow, Soma, you take the one on the left, Narkloth, Tyrminus and I will take the one to the right."

"Got it."

Everyone took off towards their pods, and barely managed to rocket out before the ten arms of the NOAS NSider glowed green, and began focusing energy. The Leviathan was thirty seconds away.

The SPAM Cannon glowed brighter, gathering power.

Twenty seconds.

The power was growing.

Ten seconds.

The primary cannon was blindingly bright, the energy was screaming to be released…

Two seconds…

"FIRE!" Captain Andrew called! A green light burst from the main pod and enveloped the Leviathan just as it tore through the hull of the NOAS NSider! The power of the SPAM Cannon, as well as shredding its way through the main reactor core of the NSider had torn the Leviathan down to its bare bones. It's elemental core showed slightly in some areas, though most of it remained encased in stone and metal.

* * *

Captain Andrew of the NOAS NSider was spread-eagled upon the floor of the decimated command deck. A pool of light-blue Phazon, mixed with the blood of the captain bubbled beneath him. The stone of the Leviathan had cut away more than half of his body and one leg.

…And then there was silence…

"I've… done my best…" Andrew whispered as Phazon slowly wormed its way through his veins. "Everyone… please… forgive me… I wasn't fast enough…" Andrew lurched upright, choked, and coughed out a burst of the blue mutagen. Cerulean veins spiderwebbed across his face and arms, filled with the destructive element. The corruption was now being pumped through his body with every beat of his heart.

"I beg of you all… Please…don't… think poorly… of me…" And his eyes closed for the final time.

* * *

"They failed." Samus said succinctly. "They were brave, and they tried… but the NSiders failed to destroy the Phazon Meteor."

"M-mama mia…" Mario closed his eyes in despair.

"This… can't be…" Zelda said, kneeling.

"Altea… have I failed you for the final time?" Marth said, keeping with his noble personality.

"Marcus… Oswin… Lowen… how…?" Eliwood put his hand on his son's shoulder, who was staring into space.

"Wait… WAIT!" Mewtwo cried haltingly, standing up. "The meteor… it impacted, but it didn't corrupt the entire planet!" His eyes had reverted to their normal purple hue, though a tint of yellow still remained in their corners.

"How can this be?" Princess Zelda arose.

"I would believe," Mewtwo said, regaining his air of superiority, "that the humans managed to weaken the meteor with their beam. It was a helpful maneuver, I must admit. However…" he trailed away.

"What is it?!" Link shouted.

"The point of impact was still affected…" the pokemon said quietly.

"What…!?" Link gasped, wide-eyed.

"No… father… Hyrule…" Zelda fell into her chair, sobbing.

"It would appear as though Hyrule is finished," Mewtwo concluded grimly.

"No!" Samus shouted, shooting at the wall as she said so. The bounty hunter walked over towards the two Hylians, Kursed's eyes followed her in shock.

"I'm afraid I can't let you surrender so easily!" She scowled. "I would never give up like this! You have to finish your mission, you seem to forget that we're all getting paid for this, don't you think?"

"She-a has a point!" Mario announced. "I'll be ready with protective suits by morning! You can-a investigate Hyrule then!"

Link sighed, looking ruefully at Samus. "You're not doing this for any of us, are you?"

"This is for me and me alone. I'm not saving your primitive kingdom for any of your sakes. But feel grateful that I'm helping you at all," Samus sneered.

* * *

Brave: Ha. I make a not-so-subtle reference to the unexpected death of Nintendo's official forums, NSider, in this chapter. And a self-insert? Madness! This sort of stuff will only happen once, so don't worry. I won't become my own OC here.


End file.
